Department of Public Health, School of Public Health and Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, USA.
Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2011 Jun;127(2):555-63. doi: 10.1007/s10549-010-1249-5. Epub 2010 Nov 11.
Mammographic density is strongly associated with breast cancer risk. Inflammation is involved in breast carcinogenesis, perhaps through effects on mammographic density. We evaluated associations between inflammatory markers interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and C-reactive protein (CRP) and mammographic density among postmenopausal women. Plasma IL-6, TNF-α, and CRP levels were measured in 145 women with benign breast disease (benign controls) and 397 women with a negative screening mammogram (well controls) enrolled in the Mammograms and Masses Study. Associations between the inflammatory markers and mammographic density were evaluated separately for benign and well controls through correlation analyses and linear regressions. Age-adjusted mean CRP levels were higher among benign controls (2.07 μg/ml) compared to well controls (1.63 μg/ml; P = 0.02), while IL-6 and TNF-α levels were similar between groups. Using linear regression, IL-6, TNF-α, and CRP were not statistically significantly associated with dense breast area within either group. Statistically significant positive associations were observed between all three markers and nondense breast area in both groups; statistically significant negative associations were observed between IL-6 and percent density among benign controls, and between all three markers and percent density among well controls. These associations were all attenuated and non-significant upon adjustment for body mass index. IL-6, TNF-α, and CRP levels were not independently associated with dense breast area, nondense breast area, or percent density in this study population. Our results suggest that these inflammatory factors do not impact breast carcinogenesis through independent effects on mammographic density.
乳腺密度与乳腺癌风险密切相关。炎症参与乳腺癌的发生发展，其机制可能与乳腺密度有关。我们评估了绝经后女性中炎症标志物白细胞介素-6（IL-6）、肿瘤坏死因子-α（TNF-α）和 C 反应蛋白（CRP）与乳腺密度之间的关系。在 Mammograms and Masses 研究中，对 145 名患有良性乳腺疾病（良性对照组）和 397 名接受阴性筛查乳房 X 光检查的妇女（对照组）的血浆 IL-6、TNF-α 和 CRP 水平进行了测量。通过相关分析和线性回归，分别评估了良性和对照组中炎症标志物与乳腺密度之间的关系。与对照组相比，良性对照组的 CRP 水平（2.07μg/ml）更高（P=0.02），而 IL-6 和 TNF-α 水平在两组之间相似。采用线性回归，在两组中，IL-6、TNF-α 和 CRP 与致密乳腺区域均无统计学显著相关性。在两组中，所有三种标志物与非致密乳腺区域均呈显著正相关；在良性对照组中，IL-6 与密度百分比之间呈显著负相关，而在对照组中，所有三种标志物与密度百分比之间呈显著负相关。这些相关性在调整体重指数后均减弱且无统计学意义。在该研究人群中，IL-6、TNF-α 和 CRP 水平与致密乳腺区域、非致密乳腺区域或密度百分比均无独立相关性。我们的结果表明，这些炎症因子不会通过对乳腺密度的独立影响而影响乳腺癌的发生。
