Circulating Levels of Agouti-Related Peptide in Endometrial Cancer Survivors

Background Recently, it has been reported that central administration of agouti-related peptide (AgRP) might have protective effect against cachexia development in tumor-bearing mice. In this study, we determined whether the disease-free endometrial cancer survivors present with different plasma AgRP levels than controls and whether there was an association with the duration of the disease-free interval. Methods The total of 53 endometrial cancer survivors was enrolled in the study along with 93 healthy control women of similar age. Fasting blood samples were obtained and AgRP plasma levels determined using ELISA-based methodology. Results The AgRP plasma levels were significantly higher in the cases than in the controls; AgRP levels were the lowest in obese control women (77.4 ± 19.8 pg/ml); on the contrary, the AgRP plasma levels were highest in non-obese cancer survivors (100.5 ± 21.12 pg/ml). Moreover, we observed significant differences in AgRP levels between the endometrial cancer survivors and the control subjects [p (for comparison of the cases and the controls) = 0.002]. In the regression modeling, AgRP was significantly associated with the BMI as well as the case-control status, and the case-control differences in AgRP levels retained their statistical significance also after adjustment for BMI. Conclusions Disease-free endometrial cancer survivors who did not develop cachexia during their treatment as well as post-treatment period present with significantly higher AgRP levels than the control population, independently on their BMI and menopausal status which could be indicative of the protective effect of circulating AgRP against cachexia development in endometrial cancer.