Document type
ArticleVersion
Accepted versionPublication date
All rights reserved
Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/2445/124271
Circulating RANKL and RANKL/OPG and Breast Cancer Risk by ER and PR Subtype: Results from the EPIC Cohort
Journal Title
Director/Tutor
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Related resource
Abstract
Receptor activator of nuclear factor-kappa B (RANK)-RANK ligand (RANKL) signaling promotes mammary tumor development in experimental models. Circulating concentrations of soluble RANKL (sRANKL) may influence breast cancer risk via activation of RANK signaling; this may be modulated by osteoprotegerin (OPG), the decoy receptor for RANKL. sRANKL and breast cancer risk by hormone receptor subtype has not previously been investigated. A case-control study was nested in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort. This study included 1,976 incident invasive breast cancer cases [estrogen receptor positive (ER+), n = 1,598], matched 1: 1 to controls. Women were pre- or postmenopausal at blood collection. Serum sRANKL was quantified using an ELISA, serum OPG using an electrochemiluminescent assay. Risk ratios (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated using conditional logistic regression. Associations between sRANKL and breast cancer risk differed by tumor hormone receptor status (P-het = 0.05). Higher concentrations of sRANKL were positively associated with risk of ER+ breast cancer [5th vs. 1st quintile RR 1.28 (95% CI, 1.01-1.63); P-trend = 0.20], but not ER+ disease. For both ER+ and estrogen and progesterone receptor positive (ER+PR+) breast cancer, results considering the sRANKL/OPG ratio were similar to those for sRANKL; we observed a suggestive inverse association between the ratio and ER+PR+ disease [5th vs. 1st quintile RR = 0.60 (0.31-1.14); P-trend = 0.03]. This study provides the first large-scale prospective data on circulating sRANKL and breast cancer. We observed limited evidence for an association between sRANKL and breast cancer risk.
Subject
Subject (English)
Citation
Citation
SARINK, Danja, et al. Circulating RANKL and RANKL/OPG and Breast Cancer Risk by ER and PR Subtype: Results from the EPIC Cohort. Cancer Prevention Research. 2017. Vol. 10, num. 9, pags. 525-534. [consulted: 13 of August of 2026]. Available at: https://hdl.handle.net/2445/124271