MONDAY, Dec. 3 (HealthDay News) -- Among patients with surgically treated endometrial cancer, elevated serum C-reactive protein (CRP) levels are associated with a less favorable prognosis, according to an article published in Obstetrics & Gynecology in December.
Maximilian Schmid, M.D., of the Medical University of Vienna in Austria, and colleagues measured preoperative serum CRP levels in 403 consecutive patients with endometrioid endometrial cancer undergoing surgical treatment. The researchers then correlated CRP levels with clinical data.
The investigators found that the mean serum CRP was 1.0 mg/dL. Serum CRP levels were associated with tumor stage, but not tumor grade, lymph node involvement or age at diagnosis. In a univariable analysis, CRP levels, tumor stage, tumor grade and age at diagnosis were associated with disease-free and overall survival. A multivariable Cox regression model showed that higher serum CRP levels, as well as tumor stage, tumor grade and age at diagnosis, were all independently associated with shortened disease-free and overall survival.
"Besides its role in inflammation, CRP has also been shown to be involved in cell death, known to be a crucial factor in the pathogenesis and development of malignant diseases. The inflammatory response promotes carcinogenesis by damaging DNA, stimulating angiogenesis and cell proliferation, and inhibiting apoptosis" the authors write. "Preoperative CRP serum levels are independently associated with survival in patients with surgically treated endometrial cancer. However, it would not be prudent to recommend the use of serum CRP levels as routine tumor marker in endometrial cancer at this point," they conclude.
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