Increased Obesity-Associated Circulating Levels of the Extracellular Matrix Proteins Osteopontin, Chitinase-3 Like-1 and Tenascin C Are Associated with Colon Cancer

Excess adipose tissue represents a major risk factor for the development of colon cancer with inflammation and extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling being proposed as plausible mechanisms. The aim of this study was to investigate whether obesity can influence circulating levels of inflammation-related extracellular matrix proteins in patients with colon cancer (CC), promoting a microenvironment favorable for tumor growth. Serum samples obtained from 79 subjects [26 lean (LN) and 53 obese (OB)] were used in the study. Enrolled subjects were further subclassified according to the established diagnostic protocol for CC (44 without CC and 35 with CC). Anthropometric measurements as well as circulating metabolites and hormones were determined. Circulating concentrations of the ECM proteins osteopontin (OPN), chitinase-3-like protein 1 (YKL-40), tenascin C (TNC) and lipocalin-2 (LCN-2) were determined by ELISA. Significant differences in circulating OPN, YKL-40 and TNC concentrations between the experimental groups were observed, being significantly increased due to obesity (P