Source
Departments
of Cancer Biology, Urology, and Epidemiology and Prevention, Wake
Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Electronic
address: gschwart@wakehealth.edu.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE:
Biological
markers that could aid in the detection of ovarian cancer are urgently
needed. Many ovarian cancers express parathyroid hormone-related
protein, which acts to raise calcium levels in serum. Thus, we
hypothesized that high serum calcium levels might predict ovarian
cancer.
METHODS:
We examined associations between total
and ionized serum calcium and ovarian cancer mortality in the Third
National Health and Nutrition Survey (NHANES III) using Cox proportional
hazard models. We then examined associations of serum calcium with
incident ovarian cancer in a second prospective cohort, the NHANES
Epidemiological Follow-up Study (NHEFS).
RESULTS:
There
were eleven deaths from ovarian cancer over 95,556 person-years of
follow-up in NHANES III. After multivariable adjustment, the risk for
fatal ovarian cancer was 52% higher for each 0.1mmol/L increase in total
serum calcium (RH=1.52, 95% CI 1.06 - 2.19) and 144% higher for each
0.1mmol/L increase in ionized serum calcium (RH=2.44, 95% CI=1.45 -
4.09). Associations persisted after adjusting for nulliparity and the
use of oral contraceptives. Eight incident ovarian cancers occurred over
31,089 person-years of follow-up in the NHEFS. After adjusting for
covariates, there was a 63% higher risk for ovarian cancer with each
0.1mmol/L increase in total serum calcium (95% CI 1.14 - 2.34). Similar
results were observed for albumin-adjusted serum calcium.
CONCLUSIONS:
Higher
serum calcium
may be a biomarker of ovarian cancer. This is the first
report of prospective positive associations between indices of calcium
in serum and ovarian cancer. Our findings require confirmation in other
cohorts.
0 comments :
Post a Comment
Your comments?
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.