gms | German Medical Science

MAINZ//2011: 56. GMDS-Jahrestagung und 6. DGEpi-Jahrestagung

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Medizinische Informatik, Biometrie und Epidemiologie e. V.
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Epidemiologie e. V.

26. - 29.09.2011 in Mainz

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Serum enterolactone and prognosis of postmenopausal breast cancer

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  • Katharina Buck - Cancer Epidemiology, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg
  • Alina Vrieling - Cancer Epidemiology, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg
  • Aida Karina Zaineddin - Cancer Epidemiology, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg
  • Susen Becker - Cancer Epidemiology, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg
  • Anika Hüsing - Cancer Epidemiology, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg
  • Rudolf Kaaks - Cancer Epidemiology, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg
  • Jakob Linseisen - Institute of Epidemiology, Helmholtz Center Munich, München
  • Dieter Flesch-Janys - Department of Cancer Epidemiology/Clinical Cancer Registry, University Cancer Center Hamburg (UCCH) and Department of Medical Biometrics and Epidemiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg
  • Jenny Chang-Claude - Cancer Epidemiology, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg

Mainz//2011. 56. Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Medizinische Informatik, Biometrie und Epidemiologie (gmds), 6. Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Epidemiologie (DGEpi). Mainz, 26.-29.09.2011. Düsseldorf: German Medical Science GMS Publishing House; 2011. Doc11gmds202

doi: 10.3205/11gmds202, urn:nbn:de:0183-11gmds2021

Published: September 20, 2011

© 2011 Buck et al.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/deed.en). You are free: to Share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work, provided the original author and source are credited.

Outline

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Background: Lignans – plant-derived compounds with estrogen-dependent and independent anti-carcinogenic properties – have been associated with postmenopausal breast cancer risk, but data is limited regarding their effect on survival. Dietary lignans are metabolized to enterolignans, which are subsequently absorbed and become bioavailable.

Methods: We assessed prognosis of 1,140 postmenopausal breast cancer patients aged 50-74 years and diagnosed between 2002 and 2005. Vital status through the end of 2009 was ascertained via local population registries and deaths were verified by death certificates. Information on recurrences and secondary tumors was verified by clinical records/attending physicians. Associations of post-diagnostic serum enterolactone (a biomarker for dietary lignans) with overall survival (OS) and distant disease-free survival (DDFS) were assessed using Cox proportional hazards models stratified by age at diagnosis and adjusted for prognostic factors.

Results: Median enterolactone levels for deceased and non-deceased patients were 17.0 and 21.4 nmol/L, respectively. During a median of 5.8 years follow-up after diagnosis, 162 total deaths were confirmed. Higher serum enterolactone levels were associated with significantly reduced hazard ratios (HR) for OS (HR per 10 nmol/L increment=0.94, p=0.04; HR for the highest quartile=0.58, 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.34-0.99). For DDFS, HR was 0.94 per 10 nmol/L increment, p=0.08, and 0.62 for the highest quartile, 95% CI=0.35-1.09. Although there was no significant heterogeneity by estrogen receptor (ER) status (p=0.09), the highest quartile of serum enterolactone was associated with a significantly better OS only for ER-negative tumors (HR=0.27, 95% CI=0.08-0.87).

Conclusion: Postmenopausal breast cancer cases with high serum enterolactone levels may have a better survival.