1. Academic Validation
  2. Increased levels of urinary PGE-M, a biomarker of inflammation, occur in association with obesity, aging, and lung metastases in patients with breast cancer

Increased levels of urinary PGE-M, a biomarker of inflammation, occur in association with obesity, aging, and lung metastases in patients with breast cancer

  • Cancer Prev Res (Phila). 2013 May;6(5):428-36. doi: 10.1158/1940-6207.CAPR-12-0431.
Patrick G Morris 1 Xi Kathy Zhou Ginger L Milne Daniel Goldstein Laura C Hawks Chau T Dang Shanu Modi Monica N Fornier Clifford A Hudis Andrew J Dannenberg
Affiliations

Affiliation

  • 1 Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, 300 E 66th St, New York, NY 10065, USA. morrisp1@mskcc.org
Abstract

Elevated levels of COX-derived prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) occur in inflamed tissues. To evaluate the potential links between inflammation and breast Cancer, levels of urinary prostaglandin E metabolite (PGE-M), a stable end metabolite of PGE2, were quantified. We enrolled 400 patients with breast cancer: controls with early breast Cancer (n = 200), lung metastases (n = 100), and metastases to other sites (n = 100). Patients completed a questionnaire, provided urine, and had measurements of height and weight. Urinary PGE-M was quantified by mass spectrometry. Ever smokers with lung metastasis who had not been exposed to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) had the highest PGE-M levels. PGE-M levels were increased in association with elevated body mass index (BMI; P < 0.001), aging (P < 0.001), pack-year smoking history (P = 0.02), lung metastases (P = 0.02), and recent cytotoxic chemotherapy (P = 0.03). Conversely, use of NSAIDs, prototypic inhibitors of COX activity, was associated with reduced PGE-M levels (P < 0.001). On the basis of the current findings, PGE-M is likely to be a useful biomarker for the selection of high-risk subgroups to determine the use of interventions that aim to reduce inflammation and possibly the development and progression of breast Cancer, especially in overweight and obese women.

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