Ovarian cancer has been emerged as a most common and lethal gynecological
malignancy in India. High serum
insulin and low
adiponectin have been associated with increased risk of
ovarian cancer. But their role in development of
ovarian cancer is conflicting and little evidence is available. We aimed to evaluate blood levels of
insulin and
adiponectin in
epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) patients and their association with the risk to develop EOC. The study included following three groups; Group 1: fifty cases of cytohistopathologically confirmed cases of EOC, Group 2: fifty age matched cases of benign ovarian conditions and Group 3: fifty ages matched healthy controls with no evidence of any benign or malignant ovarian pathology as ruled out by clinical examination and relevant investigations. Cytohistopathologically confirmed and newly diagnosed cases of EOC and benign
ovarian cancer were included in this study. The median value of fasting serum
insulin was significantly high (15.0 µlU/ml, P = 0.02) and
adiponectin were significantly low (5.1 µg/ml, P < 0.001) in
ovarian cancer patients compared to benign ovarian
tumors and healthy controls group. A significant increase risk of
ovarian cancer was found in high tertile (≥ 18.7 µlU/ml) of serum
insulin level (OR = 2.7; 95% CI = 1.00-6.67, P = 0.04) and lower tertile (≤ 5.45 µg/ml) of
adiponectin level (OR = 3.2; 95% CI = 1.10-9.71, P = 0.03). High serum
insulin level and low
adiponectin levels were significantly associated with increased risk for development of
ovarian cancer.