Table 2.
Risk of MM, stratified by cohort, by quartiles of circulating immune markers
| Immune markers | All cases | EPIC‐Italy | NSHDS | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ca/Co, n | OR (95% CI) | n | OR (95% CI) | n | OR (95% CI) | ||
| FGF‐2 | Q1 (<1.67) | 34/67 | Ref. | 9/18 | Ref. | 25/49 | Ref. |
| Q2 (1.67–3.23) | 24/67 | 0.72 (0.42–1.22) | 6/19 | 0.48 (0.15–1.56) | 18/48 | 0.69 (0.37–1.29) | |
| Q3 (3.24–4.32) | 12/67 | 0.41 (0.21–0.82) | 4/24 | 0.43 (0.12–1.59) | 8/43 | 0.38 (0.17–0.86) | |
| Q4 (>4.32) | 6/67 | 0.22 (0.09–0.53) | 2/23 | 0.17 (0.03–0.85) | 4/44 | 0.20 (0.07–0.61) | |
| P‐trend | <0.0001 | 0.02 | 0.001 | ||||
| Fractalkine | Q1 (<2.51) | 31/67 | Ref. | 5/7 | Ref. | 26/60 | Ref. |
| Q2 (2.51–3.91) | 19/67 | 0.72 (0.40–1.30) | 5/28 | 0.53 (0.13–2.14) | 14/39 | 0.81 (0.42–1.58) | |
| Q3 (3.92–5.07) | 20/67 | 0.68 (0.37–1.23) | 10/22 | 1.16 (0.32–4.26) | 10/45 | 0.51 (0.24–1.10) | |
| Q4 (>5.07) | 6/67 | 0.25 (0.10–0.62) | 1/27 | 0.12 (0.01–1.13) | 5/40 | 0.32 (0.12–0.87) | |
| P‐trend | 0.003 | 0.19 | 0.01 | ||||
| MCP‐3 | Q1 (<0.62) | 33/67 | Ref. | 7/14 | Ref. | 26/53 | Ref. |
| Q2 (0.62–2.39) | 18/67 | 0.66 (0.37–1.20) | 7/28 | 0.61 (0.18–2.04) | 11/39 | 0.62 (0.30–1.26) | |
| Q3 (2.40–3.50) | 16/67 | 0.57 (0.31–1.05) | 6/21 | 0.66 (0.19–2.26) | 10/46 | 0.52 (0.25–1.09) | |
| Q4 (>3.50) | 9/67 | 0.34 (0.16–0.72) | 1/21 | 0.11 (0.01–0.95) | 8/46 | 0.39 (0.17–0.90) | |
| P‐trend | 0.003 | 0.05 | 0.02 | ||||
| MIP‐1α | Q1 (<0.59) | 22/67 | Ref. | 7/14 | Ref. | 15/53 | Ref. |
| Q2 (0.59–2.43) | 29/67 | 1.22 (0.69–2.15) | 7/17 | 1.34 (0.36–5.03) | 22/50 | 1.33 (0.69–2.59) | |
| Q3 (2.44–3.49) | 17/67 | 0.74 (0.39–1.42) | 5/17 | 0.94 (0.26–3.35) | 12/50 | 0.79 (0.36–1.73) | |
| Q4 (>3.49) | 8/67 | 0.38 (0.16–0.91) | 2/36 | 0.21 (0.04–1.10) | 6/31 | 0.50 (0.17–1.45) | |
| P‐trend | 0.02 | 0.04 | 0.17 | ||||
| TGF‐α | Q1 (<–0.55) | 33/67 | Ref. | 8/16 | Ref. | 25/51 | Ref. |
| Q2 (–0.55–0.77) | 26/67 | 0.82 (0.48–1.39) | 9/21 | 1.02 (0.34–3.01) | 17/46 | 0.71 (0.38–1.35) | |
| Q3 (0.78–2.38) | 8/67 | 0.31 (0.14–0.68) | 2/19 | 0.31 (0.06–1.49) | 6/48 | 0.29 (0.12–0.73) | |
| Q4 (>2.38) | 9/67 | 0.33 (0.15–0.70) | 2/28 | 0.19 (0.04–0.97) | 7/39 | 0.35 (0.14–0.87) | |
| P‐trend | 0.0003 | 0.01 | 0.003 | ||||
| VEGF | Q1 (<3.31) | 30/67 | Ref. | 11/17 | Ref. | 19/50 | Ref. |
| Q2 (3.31–5.28) | 27/67 | 0.91 (0.54–1.55) | 6/20 | 0.66 (0.23–1.89) | 21/47 | 1.05 (0.55–2.00) | |
| Q3 (5.29–6.52) | 10/67 | 0.38 (0.18–0.78) | 2/21 | 0.24 (0.05–1.17) | 8/46 | 0.45 (0.19–1.07) | |
| Q4 (>6.52) | 9/67 | 0.35 (0.16–0.75) | 2/26 | 0.18 (0.04–0.87) | 7/41 | 0.40 (0.16–1.03) | |
| P‐trend | 0.001 | 0.01 | 0.02 | ||||
Quartiles of (log‐transformed) plasma levels of immune markers were calculated based on the distribution in control subjects. Models adjusted for age, sex, country, body mass index, smoking status, education, physical activity, alcohol intake and phase. Tests for trend were calculated using the quartile number as continuous variable. Noise variance due to plate was removed before analyses.
Abbreviations: FGF‐2, fibroblast growth factor‐2; TGF‐α, transforming growth factor alpha; MCP‐3, monocyte chemotactic protein‐3; MIP‐1α, macrophage inflammatory protein‐1 alpha; VEGF, vascular endothelial growth factor; EPIC, European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition; NSHDS, the Northern Sweden Health and Disease Study.