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Plasma IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 may be imprecise surrogates for breast concentrations: an analysis of healthy women

  • Epidemiology
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Abstract

We investigated insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1 and IGF binding protein (IGFBP)-3 concentrations in histologically normal breast tissues and assessed their association with plasma concentrations, and breast cancer risk factors. IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 were assessed in plasma and breast tissues of 90 women with no history of any cancer and undergoing reduction mammoplasty. Pearson correlations and ANOVAs were used to describe plasma-breast associations and biomarker differences by breast cancer risk factors, respectively. Multivariable regression models were used to determine associations between risk factors, and breast IGF-1 and IGFBP-3. The mean age of the study sample was 37.3 years, 58 % were white, and generally these women were obese (mean BMI = 30.8 kg/m2). We observed no plasma-breast correlation for IGF-1, IGFBP-3, or IGF-1/IGFBP-3 (r = −0.08, r = 0.14, and r = 0.03, respectively; p-values >0.05). Through age- and BMI-adjusted analysis, BMI and years of oral contraceptive (OC) use were inversely associated with breast IGF-1 (p-values = 0.02 and 0.003, respectively) and age was associated with breast IGFBP-3 (p = 0.01), while breast IGF-1/IGFBP-3 was higher in blacks than whites (1.08 vs. 0.68, p = 0.04) and associated with age and BMI (p-values = 0.03 and 0.002, respectively). In multivariable-adjusted models, some breast cancer risk factors studied herein explained 24, 10, and 15 % of the variation in breast IGF-1, IGFBP-3, and IGF-1/IGFBP-3, respectively. While reasons for the lack of plasma-breast hormone correlations in these cancer-free women are unknown, several factors were shown to be associated with breast concentrations. The lack of correlation between blood and tissue IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 suggests that studies of breast cancer risk assessing blood IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 may have important limitations in understanding their role in breast carcinogenesis.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by an Alcohol Center of Excellence grant awarded to PGS, from the U.S. Department of Defense (Grant# DOD BC022346). The authors have no competing interests to declare.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Population Sciences, The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, 1590 North High Street, Suite 525, Columbus, OH, 43201, USA

    Adana A. Llanos, Theodore M. Brasky & Peter G. Shields

  2. Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA

    Ramona G. Dumitrescu, Kepher H. Makambi, Bhaskar V. S. Kallakury & Lucile L. Adams-Campbell

  3. Saba University School of Medicine, Saba, Dutch Caribbean

    Ramona G. Dumitrescu

  4. University of Medicine and Pharmacy Timisoara, Timisoara, Romania

    Catalin Marian

  5. MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, Washington, DC, USA

    Bhaskar V. S. Kallakury & Scott L. Spear

  6. MedStar Washington Hospital Center, Washington, DC, USA

    David J. Perry & Rafael J. Convit

  7. Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development, New York University, New York, NY, USA

    Mary E. Platek

  8. Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, NY, USA

    Jo L. Freudenheim

Authors
  1. Adana A. Llanos
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  2. Theodore M. Brasky
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  4. Catalin Marian
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  5. Kepher H. Makambi
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  6. Bhaskar V. S. Kallakury
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  7. Scott L. Spear
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  8. David J. Perry
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  10. Mary E. Platek
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  11. Lucile L. Adams-Campbell
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  12. Jo L. Freudenheim
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  13. Peter G. Shields
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Adana A. Llanos.

Additional information

This study is novel in that it is the first to investigate factors associated with breast IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 variation and assess plasma-breast correlations for these hormones in women without a history of any cancer. These data could have important implications for understanding the observed associations with breast cancer risk and could further our understanding of breast cancer etiology, potentially leading to new insights about the role of the IGF-axis in breast carcinogenesis.

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Llanos, A.A., Brasky, T.M., Dumitrescu, R.G. et al. Plasma IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 may be imprecise surrogates for breast concentrations: an analysis of healthy women. Breast Cancer Res Treat 138, 571–579 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-013-2452-y

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