Plasma concentrations of IGF-I and IGFBP3 and brain cancer risk in EPIC

Background: Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-I) is important in normal brain development, but in the adult brain IGF-I overexpression is a signal for neoplastic processes. It is unclear whether circulating levels of IGF-I and its main binding protein (BP), IGFBP-3, are related to subsequent risk of brain cancer. Methods: We examined the association between plasma concentrations of IGF-I and IGFBP3 and its molar ratio (IGF-I/IGFBP3) in relation to risk of high-grade gliomas (n=206), low-grade gliomas (n=74), meningiomas (n=174) and acoustic neuromas (n=49) using a case-control design (2 controls per case) nested…