Tissue leptin levels in patients with breast cancer

Purpose: High leptin serum levels, overexpression of leptin and its two main receptor isoforms, OBR-L and OBR-S, have been documented in breast cancer patients. In the present study, the relationship between tissue leptin levels and breast cancer was evaluated. Methods: Thirty-three normal breast tissue samples and 33 breast cancer tissue samples from 33 patients with breast cancer were evaluated. The association of tissue leptin levels and important prognostic factors related to breast cancer was analyzed. Results: Mean tissue leptin levels in breast cancer tissue samples (5.02 +/- 1.06 pg/ml) were significantly higher than those found in normal breast tissue (2.02 +/- 0.83 pg/ml; p=0.01). No correlation was found in tissue leptin levels and menopausal status, hormone receptor and HER-2/neu status, lymph node involvement, and histopathologic features. Conclusion: High leptin levels were significantly higher in breast cancer tissue compared with normal tissue. No special correlation was found between tissue leptin levels and different clinicopathological characteristics.