Effects of systemic inflammation on relapse in early breast cancer
Open Access
- 22 January 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in npj Breast Cancer
- Vol. 7 (1), 1-10
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41523-020-00212-6
Abstract
Chronic inflammation has been a proposed mechanism of resistance to aromatase inhibitors in breast cancer. Stratifying by HER2 status, a matched case-control study from the Wellness After Breast Cancer-II cohort was performed to assess whether or not elevated serum inflammatory biomarkers (C-Reactive protein [CRP], interleukin-6 [IL-6], and serum amyloid A [SAA]) and/or the presence of a high-risk IL-6 promoter genotype were associated with recurrence of hormone receptor positive (HR+) early breast cancer. Estrogen levels were also measured and correlated with biomarkers and disease outcomes. CRP and SAA were significantly associated with an increased risk of recurrence in the HR+/HER2− group, but not the HR+/HER2+ group. Mean serum estrogen levels were non-significantly elevated in patients who relapsed vs. non-relapsed patients. Surprisingly, high-risk IL-6 promoter polymorphisms were strongly associated with HER2+ breast cancer relapse, which has potential therapeutic implications, as elevated intracellular IL-6 has been associated with trastuzumab resistance in pre-clinical models.Keywords
Funding Information
- Susan G. Komen (KG110876)
- U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | National Institutes of Health (K12GM081259, 5P30ES013508, R01CA158243, P30-CA008748)
- U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | National Institutes of Health
- U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | National Institutes of Health
- U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | National Institutes of Health
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