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. 2022 Jan;31(1):236-241.
doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-21-0808. Epub 2021 Oct 25.

Circulating Inflammation Markers and Pancreatic Cancer Risk: A Prospective Case-Cohort Study in Japan

Enbo Ma #  1   2 , Taichi Shimazu #  3 , Minkyo Song  4 , Hadrien Charvat  5 , Norie Sawada  5 , Taiki Yamaji  5 , Manami Inoue  5 , M Constanza Camargo  4 , Troy J Kemp  6 , Ruth M Pfeiffer  4 , Ligia A Pinto  6 , Charles S Rabkin  4 , Shoichiro Tsugane  5
Affiliations

Circulating Inflammation Markers and Pancreatic Cancer Risk: A Prospective Case-Cohort Study in Japan

Enbo Ma et al. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2022 Jan.

Abstract

Background: Previous prospective studies of associations between circulating inflammation-related molecules and pancreatic cancer risk have included limited numbers of markers.

Methods: We conducted a case-cohort study nested within the Japan Public Health Center-based Prospective Study Cohort II. We selected a random subcohort (n = 774) from a total of 23,335 participants aged 40 to 69 years who returned a questionnaire and provided blood samples at baseline. During the follow-up period from 1993 to 2010, we identified 111 newly diagnosed pancreatic cancer cases, including one case within the subcohort. Plasma concentrations of 62 inflammatory markers of chemokines, cytokines, and growth factors were measured by a Luminex fluorescent bead-based assay. Cox regression models were applied to estimate HR and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for pancreatic cancer risk for quartiles of marker levels adjusted for potential confounders.

Results: The HR (95% CI) for the highest versus the lowest category of C-C motif ligand chemokine 8/monocyte chemoattractant protein 2 (CCL8/MCP2) was 2.03 (1.05-3.93; P trend = 0.048). After we corrected for multiple comparisons, none of the examined biomarkers were associated with pancreatic cancer risk at P-value <0.05.

Conclusions: We found no significant associations between 62 inflammatory markers and pancreatic cancer risk.

Impact: The suggestive association with circulating levels of leukocyte recruiting cytokine CCL8/MCP2 may warrant further investigation.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest Statement:

The authors declare no potential conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Flow diagram of selection of 20,900 eligible individuals from a total of 78,825 participants and the case-cohort sample design nested within the JPHC Study. The stratified random sample had a subcohort of 774 individuals with similar age and gender distribution as cancer cases. There were a total of 111 pancreatic cases, of which 1 was from the subcohort.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Association of per quantile increase of immune-related markers with risk of pancreatic cancer in the JPHC Study. Associations were estimated with adjustment for age (years), gender, study area, family history of pancreatic cancer (yes or no), history of diabetes mellitus (yes or no), body mass index (<21, 21-<23, 23-<27, and ≥27 kg/m2), smoking habits (never, past, current <20, and current ≥20 cigarettes/day), alcohol drinking (none or occasional, regular <300, and regular ≥300 g ethanol/week) and quartiles of energy expenditure in metabolic equivalents/day. * p<0.05
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