Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 16, 2026
Modeling Brain Metastasis Via Tail-Vein Injection of Inflammatory Breast Cancer Cells
Published on: February 4, 2021
Using Resistin, glucose, age and BMI to predict the presence of breast cancer
Miguel Patrício1, José Pereira2, Joana Crisóstomo3
1Laboratory of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics and IBILI - Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, Azinhaga Santa Comba, Celas, 3000-548, Coimbra, Portugal. mjpd@uc.pt.
Background:
The goal of this exploratory study was to develop and assess a prediction model which can potentially be used as a biomarker of breast cancer, based on anthropometric data and parameters which can be gathered in routine blood analysis.
Methods:
For each of the 166 participants several clinical features were observed or measured, including age, BMI, Glucose, Insulin, HOMA, Leptin, Adiponectin, Resistin and MCP-1. Machine learning algorithms (logistic regression, random forests, support vector machines) were implemented taking in as predictors different numbers of variables. The resulting models were assessed with a Monte Carlo Cross-Validation approach to determine 95% confidence intervals for the sensitivity, specificity and AUC of the models.
Results:
Support vector machines models using Glucose, Resistin, Age and BMI as predictors allowed predicting the presence of breast cancer in women with sensitivity ranging between 82 and 88% and specificity ranging between 85 and 90%. The 95% confidence interval for the AUC was [0.87, 0.91].
Conclusions:
These findings provide promising evidence that models combining age, BMI and metabolic parameters may be a powerful tool for a cheap and effective biomarker of breast cancer.
Related Concept Videos
02:27Predicting Molecular Geometry
01:02Glucose Homeostasis: Regulation of Blood Glucose
During fasting, when blood glucose levels are low, the pancreas secretes glucagon. it...
01:26Aging
Cellular Clock Theory
The cellular clock theory posits that the human lifespan is closely tied to the finite capacity of cells to divide, a phenomenon governed by telomeres, which are protective caps at the ends of...
01:27Glucose Transporters
Facilitated diffusion-glucose transporters (GLUTs) are encoded by the solute-linked carrier (SLC) family 2, subfamily A gene family, or SLC2A. The 14 GLUT protein members are distributed into three classes:
01:03Prediction Intervals
However, the point estimate is most likely not the exact value of the population parameter, but close to it. After calculating point estimates, we construct interval estimates, called confidence intervals or prediction intervals. This prediction interval comprises a range of values unlike the point estimate and is a better predictor of the observed sample value, y.
01:19The Effect of Aging on Tissues