TY - JOUR
TI - Increased serum levels of ghrelin at diagnosis mediate body weight loss
in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients
AU - Karapanagiotou, Eleni M.
AU - Poyzos, Aristidis
AU - Dilana, Kalliopi D.
AU - and Gratsias, Ioannis
AU - Boura, Paraskevi
AU - Gkiozos, Ioannis and
AU - Syrigos, Kostas N.
JO - Translational Lung Cancer Research
PY - 2009
VL - 66
TODO - 3
SP - 393-398
PB - Elsevier Ireland Ltd
SN - null
TODO - 10.1016/j.lungcan.2009.02.006
TODO - Ghrelin; NSCLC; Lung cancer cachexia; Systemic inflammation; Weight loss
TODO - Objective: Ghrelin is an orexigenic peptide implicated in body weight
regulation, while cachexia is a multifactorial effect of non-small cell
lung cancer (NSCLC) presented in patients with advanced disease. The aim
of this study was to detect the role of ghrelin in cachexia and systemic
inflammation of advanced NSCLC patients as well as its role as a
diagnostic and prognostic tool.
Methods: Ghrelin serum levels were measured in 101 inoperable NSCLC
patients before receiving any therapy (75 patients with weight loss and
26 without weight loss) and 60 healthy control volunteers.
Epidemiological, anthropometrical and laboratory data were assessed for
all participants (patients and healthy volunteers).
Results: NSCLC patients presented significantly higher ghrelin serum
levels than healthy individuals, adjusted for sex, age and BMI (0.5 +/-
0.4 ng/ml vs. 0.4 +/- 0.3 ng/ml, P<0.001). NSCLC patients with weight
loss presented significantly increased ghrelin serum levels (0.56 +/-
0.24 ng/ml vs. 0.52 +/- 0.44 ng/ml, P= 0.017), compared to NSCLC
patients without weight loss.
Conclusions: Ghrelin serum levels are significantly increased in NSCLC
patients, mainly in the subgroup of patients diagnosed with cachexia,
indicating a possible implication in the pathogenesis of lung cancer.
Further studies are needed to determine its potential role as predictive
and prognostic marker. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights
reserved.
ER -