Expression of inflammatory cytokines by adipose tissue from patients with endometrial cancer

Obesity results in increased mortality from many forms of cancer. We looked at the levels of gene expression for TNFalpha, IL-6, IkappaB kinase (inhibitor of NF-kappaB), CD 68 (glycoprotein expressed on macrophages) and leptin in samples of adipose tissue from individuals with endometrial cancer versus patients with benign conditions. This is a prospective study which included patients of a gynecologic oncology group. A piece of omental tissue was harvested from them during surgery. RNA was purified from all samples. Relative amounts of RNA for IkappaB, TNFalpha, IL-6, CD68 and leptin were calculated. Pearson's correlation method was used to correlate RNA levels with BMI. Logistic regression method was used to compare gene expression for cancer and control groups. The total sample size was 56 (24 endometrial cancer and 32 controls). IkappaB, TNFalpha and IL-6 levels increased linearly with increasing BMI in the control group. There was no correlation of IkappaB, TNFalpha, IL-6 or CD-68 levels with cancer status of the patients. Leptin had a weak protective effect against endometrial cancer (odds ratio = 0.92). Obesity is associated with increased expression of certain inflammatory cytokines in the adipose tissue. However, increased levels of these inflammatory markers in the adipose tissue of the omentum are not associated with presence of endometrial cancer.