Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 24, 2025
In Vivo and Ex Vivo Approaches to Study Ovarian Cancer Metastatic Colonization of Milky Spot Structures in Peritoneal Adipose
Published on: October 14, 2015
Premenopausal Plasma Osteoprotegerin and Breast Cancer Risk: A Case-Control Analysis Nested within the Nurses' Health
Joanne Kotsopoulos1,2, Emma E McGee3,4, Susana Lozano-Esparza3
1Women's College Research Institute, Women's College Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. joanne.kotsopoulos@wchospital.ca.
Background:
Emerging evidence supports a role of the receptor activator of NF-κB (RANK) pathway in normal mammary gland development and breast carcinogenesis. Osteoprotegerin (OPG) is the endogenous decoy receptor for RANK-ligand (RANKL), which inhibits RANK-signaling. Whether OPG may be a biomarker of breast cancer risk remains unclear.
Methods:
We evaluated the association between plasma OPG and breast cancer risk in a case (n = 297)-control (n = 297) study nested within the Nurses' Health Study II. Cases were women who were cancer-free and premenopausal at blood collection who developed invasive breast cancer. OPG was quantified using an ELISA. Conditional logistic regression was used to estimate multivariable odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the association between OPG levels and breast cancer risk, adjusting for potential confounders. Unconditional logistic regression, additionally adjusting for matching factors, was used for stratified analyses.
Results:
Overall, there was no substantial evidence for an association between plasma OPG levels and breast cancer risk, although the point estimate for the highest (vs. lowest) quartile was below 1 (OR = 0.78; 95% CI, 0.46-1.33; P trend = 0.30). There was no evidence of heterogeneity by various reproductive, hormonal, or tumor characteristics, including hormone receptor status and grade (all P heterogeneity ≥ 0.17).
Conclusions:
Findings from this prospective study do not provide substantial evidence for an association between circulating OPG and breast cancer risk among premenopausal women; however, we were underpowered in stratified analyses.
Impact:
Results do not provide strong evidence for OPG as a potential biomarker of breast cancer risk among premenopausal women.
More Related Videos
06:18An In Vivo Estrogen Deficiency Mouse Model for Screening Exogenous Estrogen Treatments of Cardiovascular Dysfunction After Menopause
Published on: August 13, 2019
06:00Development of a Human Preclinical Model of Osteoclastogenesis from Peripheral Blood Monocytes Co-cultured with Breast Cancer Cell Lines
Published on: September 13, 2017