Associations of serum C-peptide and insulin-like growth factor binding proteins-3 with breast cancer deaths

C-peptide is usually considered as a marker of insulin secretion and has no physiological function. This study aimed to assess the association between serum C-peptide level as independent risk factor and breast cancer and explored the possible underlying mechanisms. This was a population-based cohort study. All the data was collected according to a standard protocol. The C-peptide and insulin-like growth factor binding proteins-3(IGFBP-3) concentrations were measured in blood. The breast cancer deaths were confirmed by National Death Index records. Cox proportional hazard regression analysis was conducted to determine the hazard ratio of serum C-peptide level for breast cancer deaths. Analysis of covariance was used to assess the association between serum C-peptide and IGFBP-3 level, and the linear trend was tested by using a linear model. A total of 8,373 women 17 years of age or older were included in the study, and 57 breast cancer deaths were observed over the study period. The result of survival analysis showed that breast cancer deaths increased with increasing levels of serum C-peptide. The hazard ratio was 1.69 (95% confidence interval, 1.17–2.45). The levels of circulating IGFBP-3 were positively associated with changes in serum C-peptide levels and showed a strong linear trend in the covariance analysis. Serum C-peptide level was associated with increased risk of breast cancer death. Our results suggest that the increased risk of breast cancer death can be via a pathway that serum C-peptide level positive associated with the change in serum IGFBP-3 level.