Adiponectin levels in patients with endometrial carcinoma and abnormal uterine bleeding

Introduction: The current age lifestyle changes and increasing obesity in India has led to increased incidence of endometrial cancer. With the increasing survival rates of cancer confined to uterus, numerous tumour markers have been tried for early diagnosis of endometrial cancers. Adiponectin has been linked to obesity related cancers. Low levels of Adiponectin are suspected to be a risk factor for the development of endometrial cancer. But there are contradictory results reported by few researchers. Hence this study was designed to identify whether adiponectin can differentiate endometrial carcinoma and abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB), as AUB is commonest presentation in patient with endometrial carcinoma. Objectives: To estimate and compare serum adiponectin levels in patients with endometrial cancer and AUB. Materials and Methods: This observational study included thirty eight patients with endometrial carcinoma and 40 BMI matched patients with AUB as study subjects. Endometrial carcinoma and AUB were diagnosed by Ultrasound scanning, Endometrial biopsy and histopathological examination. Blood samples were collected from all study subjects after informed written consent. Serum adiponectin were estimated by Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Essay (ELISA). Results: The mean adiponectin level for endometrial cancer cases was 12.6 mg/mL and mean in AUB group was 12.2mg/mL. Conclusion: Serum Adiponectin levels did not significantly vary in patients with Endometrial carcinoma and AUB. The estimation of adiponectin did not differentiate endometrial carcinoma and abnormal uterine bleeding patients. Keywords: Adiponectin, Endometrial carcinoma, Abnormal uterine bleeding, Carcinoma risk, Cancer screening, Adipokine.