Objective: To investigate the association between circulating levels of adipocytokines (adiponectin, leptin, tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNFα), interleukin 6 (IL-6)) and growth factors (insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) and II (IGF-II)), and the risk of endometrial cancer.
Methods: Cochrane, CINAHL, Embase, Medline and Web of Science were searched for English-language manuscripts published between January 2000 and August 2018 using the following string of words: cancer and endometrial and (obesity or BMI) and (adiponectin or TNF* or IGF-I or IGF-II or IL-6 or leptin).
Results: Twenty articles were included in this meta-analysis, which corresponded to 18 studies involving 2921 endometrial carcinoma cases and 5302 controls. Fourteen articles reported circulating levels for adiponectin, seven for leptin, three for TNFα, three for IL-6 and one for IGF-I. No article reported values for IGF-II. Patients with circulating adiponectin levels in the highest tertile had decreased endometrial cancer risk compared to women with levels in the lowest tertile, (summary of odds ratio (SOR) 0.51, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.38-0.69, p < 0.00001). Women with circulating leptin concentrations in the highest tertile had increased endometrial cancer risk compared to women with concentrations in the lowest tertile (SOR 2.19, 95% CI: 1.45-3.30, p = 0.0002). There was no difference in cancer risk between participants with the highest TNFα and IL-6 levels compared to the lowest levels (SOR 1.27, 95% CI: 0.88-1.83, p = 0.20 and SOR 1.20, 95% CI: 0.89-1.63, p = 0.23, respectively).
Conclusions: Endometrial cancer risk is inversely affected by adiponectin and leptin levels. There appears to be no relationship between TNFα and IL-6 and the overall risk of endometrial cancer.
Keywords: Adipocytokines; Endometrial cancer; Meta-analysis; Obesity; Risk factors.
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