Association of body mass index and asprosia with survival in breast cancer patients

Obesity is a known risk factor for breast cancer development, recurrence, and even worse prognosis. Inflammatory cytokines and mediators are produced by the adipose tissue which is more accumulated in obese people create an environment promoting cancer invasion and metastasis. Asprosin is an orexigenic protein hormone that is mostly generated by white adipose tissue and increases hepatic glucose release. It is possible that asprosin acts in the altered energy metabolism of cancer cells. It was shown that asprosin immunoreactivity is higher in invasive ductal carcinoma. In this study, it was aimed to investigate the relationship between body mass index (BMI), asprosin immunoreactivity and overall survival in women treated for invasive ductal carcinoma, not otherwise specified (NOS). The records of women treated in a tertiary hospital between 2000 and 2007 who were diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma, NOS were reviewed retrospectively. The patients were divided into two groups: those with a BMI below 35 kg/m2 (group 1) and those with a BMI of 35 kg/m2 or above (group 2). Sections taken from tumor tissues were stained with anti-asprosin antibody and histoscore was determined according to the pervasiveness and intensity of staining. The correlation between BMI, asprosin immunoreactivity and overall survival was analyzed. Twenty patients had a BMI of less than 35 kg/m2, whereas seven had a BMI of 35 kg/m2 or more. The median asprosin level was 0.4 (range 0.1-1.8). On January 24, 2023, 21 (77.8%) of the patients were still alive, 6 (22.2%) died of cancer-related causes. The mean overall survival time was 211.6±68.7 months (range 36 to 276). There was a statistically significant difference in mean BMI (24.9±3.0 kg/m2 vs 37.1±3.4 kg/m2, p<0.001), and median asprosin immunoreactivity (0.20 vs 0.80, p=0.016) between groups. However, there was no difference in mean overall survival (201.0±76.1 months vs 241.7±26.3 months, p=0.182). The elevated levels of asprosin in invasive ductal cancer, does not appear to have any influence on survival, according to the limited number of participants in this study. But in order to reach a firm conclusion, further studies involving a larger number of patients are needed, and molecular research is also required to assess how asprosin affects the course of breast cancer.