A nested case-control study of stomach cancer and serum insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1, IGF-2 and IGF-binding protein (IGFBP)-3

We conducted this study to investigate the association between serum levels of insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1, IGF-2, and IGF-binding protein (IGFBP)-3 and the incidence of stomach cancer. A nested case-control study of 161 stomach cancer incidences and 314 matched controls was established within the Japan Collaborative Cohort Study. The adjusted ORs for IGF-1 quartile ranged from 0.84 and 1.13, but these were not statistically significant. Further, higher IGF-2 levels did not significantly correlate with the incidence of stomach cancer. A tendency for the risk of stomach cancer to decrease with increasing IGFBP-3 level was observed, but without statistical significance. A slight decrease in risk was seen with an increase in IGFBP-3 level, but neither change was statistically significant. To conclude, we found no association between IGF-1, IGF-2, or IGFBP-3 serum levels and the risk of stomach cancer. As this association has not been established, these findings need to be confirmed in future studies.