Clinical Topics & News
The Link Between Low-Density Lipoproteins and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia
Researchers explored the connection of low-density lipoproteins and the development of chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
Natriuretic peptides have been shown to be valuable biomarkers for guiding diagnosis and treatment for cardiovascular disease. Recently, they also have been reported to inhibit progression of several cancers. The link is likely to be inflammation—which is usually a precursor to malignant changes, say researchers from Tokushima University and the National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center Research Institute, both in Japan. To find out how reliable brain natriuretic peptide and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels might be in cancer, the researchers retrospectively studied 2,923 patients at their hospital who had had brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) measured to rule out heart disease.
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Of 234 patients included in the final analysis, 80 were diagnosed with cancer. No patients with clinically evident heart failure and cardiac disease requiring medical treatment were included in the study. Both the plasma BNP and serum CRP levels were significantly higher in the patients with cancer (66.4 vs 44.0 pg/mL, and 0.99 vs 0.18 mg/dL, respectively). There were no significant differences in the echocardiographic parameters.
In 28 cured patients with solid cancers who underwent a radical surgery, the plasma BNP levels dropped significantly, from 70.7 to 45.0 pg/mL. However, the levels did not change after surgery in 7 relapsed or “insufficiently treated” patients with solid cancers. And although plasma BNP levels “tended to decrease” after chemotherapy in patients with hematologic cancers, in 13 patients plasma BNP levels did not change significantly.
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BNP levels were significantly higher in the patients with stage IV cancer, compared with those who had stages I, II, or III. This might be accompanied by systemic inflammation, the researchers say.
As far as the researchers know, no studies have shown that cancer cells generate BNP. Therefore, they think a higher plasma BNP level may reflect the elevated production from cardiomyocytes in association with inflammation in cancer patients.
Their findings suggest that it’s a good idea to consider the effect of cancer on the BNP levels when using BNP as an indicator of heart failure. Asymptomatic cancer patients with higher BNP levels should be diagnosed whether the elevated BNP is due to asymptomatic heart failure or cancer.
Source:
Bando S, Soeki T, Matsuura T, et al. PLoS One. 2017;12(6):e0178607
