A nested case-control study of stomach cancer and serum insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1, IGF-2 and IGF-binding protein (IGFBP)-3

We conducted this study to investigate the association between serum levels of insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1, IGF-2, and IGF-binding protein (IGFBP)-3 and the incidence of stomach cancer. A nested case-control study of 161 stomach cancer incidences and 314 matched controls was established within the Japan Collaborative Cohort Study. The adjusted ORs for IGF-1 quartile ranged from 0.84 and 1.13, but these were not statistically significant. Further, higher IGF-2 levels did not significantly correlate with the incidence of stomach cancer. A tendency for the risk of stomach cancer to decrease with increasing IGFBP-3 level was observed, but without statistical significance. A slight decrease in risk was seen with an increase in IGFBP-3 level, but neither change was statistically significant. To conclude, we found no association between IGF-1, IGF-2, or IGFBP-3 serum levels and the risk of stomach cancer. As this association has not been established, these findings need to be confirmed in future studies. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.