High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) is a measure of inflammation in the body. This blood test looks for inflammation that’s not apparent; with severe infection you have a fever, but other types of inflammation may go unnoticed. This is subtle because you don’t feel anything. On top of that, CRP hasn’t been shown to be diagnostic for any disease. It still may not be, but a recently published study demonstrated that there’s a chance that if CRP changes over time, that may be indicative of some forms of cancer.

The Study

The researchers examined the relationship between CRP trajectory patterns and new-onset cancers among 52,276 participants over eight years; CRP trajectories were developed from 2006 to 2010 to predict cancer risk from 2010 to 2019. The study was restricted to the population who participated in physical examinations in 2006, 2008, and 2010, and had their CRP measured each time.

If you can think of a variable, they tested for it, as well as collecting demographic information that allowed them to consider confounding variables in the statistical analysis. The subjects were tracked for the next eight years to find out who developed cancer and what type of cancer they developed.

The Results

During the extensive and complicated statistical analysis, four CRP trajectory patterns emerged:

A low-stable pattern (43,258 subjects)
A low-stable pattern was associated with a low risk of new cancers.

A moderate-increasing pattern (2,591 subjects)
Subjects in the moderate-increasing CRP trajectory pattern were associated with an elevated risk of any form of cancer, but especially lung, breast, leukemia, bladder, stomach, colorectal, liver, gallbladder, or extrahepatic bile duct cancer.

An increasing-decreasing pattern (2,068 subjects)
Subjects in the increasing-decreasing trajectory pattern were associated with an elevated risk of any form of cancer, but especially lung, breast, bladder, pancreatic, and liver cancer. This pattern was also associated with decreased risk of colorectal cancer.

An elevated-decreasing pattern (4,359 subjects)
Subjects with an elevated-decreasing trajectory pattern were associated with increased risk of leukemia and decreased risk of esophageal and colorectal cancer.

The Bottom Line

Here’s what we know now: inflammation is definitely one of the hallmarks of cancer. Regular assessment of CRP over many years may now be predictive as a risk factor for cancer but not diagnostic. There’s more research to go, but this study is a step in the right direction.

The good news is that it’s another risk factor that can be changed through lifestyle: Eat less. Eat better. Move more.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: Int J Cancer. 2022. 10.1002/ijc.34012