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Relation of serum insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) and IGF binding protein-3 to risk of prostate cancer (United States)

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Abstract

Objective: Insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) exerts potent mitogenic and antiapoptotic effects on prostatic epithelial cells. Insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) modulates the effects of IGF-I, and independently induces apoptosis and inhibits cell growth. Previous studies have inconsistently associated IGF-I and IGFBP-3 with prostate cancer. To try and further clarify these potential associations, we undertook a sibling-matched case–control study. Methods: Serum IGF-I and IGFBP-3 were determined for 845 men (408 cases and 437 sibling controls). Conditional logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between the serum IGF levels and prostate cancer. Results: Among all study subjects, only the molar ratio of IGF-I to IGFBP-3 was associated with prostate cancer: comparing those in the highest to lowest quartiles gave an OR = 1.62 (95% CI = 1.02–2.57, trend-p = 0.04). Among men with clinically less aggressive disease, we observed positive associations between prostate cancer and high levels of IGF-I (OR = 2.78, 95% CI = 1.06–6.80, trend-p = 0.03), and IGFBP-3 (OR = 2.68, 95% CI = 1.08–6.80, trend-p = 0.04). Simultaneously modeling both left the IGF-I result essentially unchanged, while substantially weakening the IGFBP-3 association. Conclusions: We found that a high IGF-I to IGFBP-3 molar ratio was associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer. Furthermore, high IGF-I was associated with increased risk of prostate cancer among men with less advanced disease at diagnosis. These results lend support to the hypothesis that IGF-I, or the IGF-I to IGFBP-3 molar ratio, is an important risk factor for prostate cancer.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Family Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA

    Li Li

  2. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA

    Li Li & Fredrick Schumacher

  3. Division of Chronic Disease Epidemiology, Yale University, Cleveland, OH, USA

    Herbert Yu

  4. Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Department of Cancer Biology, Cleveland, OH, USA

    Graham Casey

  5. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Case Western Reserve University, 2109 Adelbert Road, WG-72, Cleveland, OH, 44106-4945, USA

    John S. Witte

Authors
  1. Li Li
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  2. Herbert Yu
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  3. Fredrick Schumacher
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  4. Graham Casey
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  5. John S. Witte
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Correspondence to John S. Witte.

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Li, L., Yu, H., Schumacher, F. et al. Relation of serum insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) and IGF binding protein-3 to risk of prostate cancer (United States). Cancer Causes Control 14, 721–726 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026383824791

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026383824791

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