Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2013 Jul;24(7):1393-402.
doi: 10.1007/s10552-013-0219-8. Epub 2013 May 7.

Iron metabolism and risk of cancer in the Swedish AMORIS study

Anjali Gaur  1 , Helen Collins, Wahyu Wulaningsih, Lars Holmberg, Hans Garmo, Niklas Hammar, Göran Walldius, Ingmar Jungner, Mieke Van Hemelrijck
Affiliations

Iron metabolism and risk of cancer in the Swedish AMORIS study

Anjali Gaur et al. Cancer Causes Control. 2013 Jul.

Abstract

Objectives: Pre-clinical studies have shown that iron can be carcinogenic, but few population-based studies investigated the association between markers of the iron metabolism and risk of cancer while taking into account inflammation. We assessed the link between serum iron (SI), total-iron binding capacity (TIBC), and risk of cancer by levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) in a large population-based study (n = 220,642).

Methods: From the Swedish Apolipoprotein Mortality Risk (AMORIS) study, we selected all participants (>20 years old) with baseline measurements of serum SI, TIBC, and CRP. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression was carried out for standardized and quartile values of SI and TIBC. Similar analyses were performed for specific cancers (pancreatic, colon, liver, respiratory, kidney, prostate, stomach, and breast cancer). To avoid reverse causation, we excluded those with follow-up <3 years.

Results: We found a positive association between standardized TIBC and overall cancer [HR 1.03 (95% CI 1.01-1.05)]. No statistically significant association was found between SI and cancer risk except for postmenopausal breast cancer [HR for standardized SI 1.09 (95% CI 1.02-1.15)]. The association between TIBC and specific cancer was only statistically significant for colon cancer [i.e., HR for standardized TIBC: 1.17 (95% CI 1.08-1.28)]. A borderline interaction between SI and levels of CRP was observed only in stomach cancer.

Conclusions: As opposed to pre-clinical findings for serum iron and cancer, this population-based epidemiological study showed an inverse relation between iron metabolism and cancer risk. Minimal role of inflammatory markers observed warrants further study focusing on developments of specific cancers.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Mascitelli L, Goldstein MR. Metabolic syndrome and liver cancer: is excess iron the link? Hepatology. 2011;54(4):1487. doi: 10.1002/hep.24437. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Weinberg ED. The role of iron in cancer. Eur J Cancer Prev. 1996;5(1):19–36. doi: 10.1097/00008469-199609000-00004. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Kabat GC, Miller AB, Jain M, Rohan TE. A cohort study of dietary iron and heme iron intake and risk of colorectal cancer in women. Br J Cancer [Research Support, Non-US Gov’t] 2007;97(1):118–122. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Kabat GC, Miller AB, Jain M, Rohan TE. Dietary iron and heme iron intake and risk of breast cancer: a prospective cohort study. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev [Clinical Trial Randomized Controlled Trial Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov’t] 2007;16(6):1306–1308. doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-07-0086. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Cross AJ, Sinha R, Wood RJ, Xue X, Huang WY, Yeager M, et al. Iron homeostasis and distal colorectal adenoma risk in the prostate, lung, colorectal, and ovarian cancer screening trial. Cancer Prev Res (Phila) 2011;4(9):1465–1475. doi: 10.1158/1940-6207.CAPR-11-0103. - DOI - PMC - PubMed