Serum vascular adhesion protein-1 is associated with twelve-year risk of incident cancer, cancer mortality, and all-cause mortality: a community-based cohort study

Background: Vascular adhesion protein-1 (VAP-1), a dual-function glycoprotein, has been reported to play a crucial role in inflammation and tumor progression. We conducted a community-based cohort study to investigate whether serum VAP-1 could be a potential biomarker for predicting incident cancers and mortality. Method: From 2006 to 2018, we enrolled 889 cancer-free subjects at baseline. Serum VAP-1 levels were measured using a time-resolved immunofluorometric assay. Cancer and vital status of the participants were obtained by linking records with the computerized cancer registry and death certificates in Taiwan. Results: During a median follow-up of 11.94 years, 69 subjects developed incident cancers and 66 subjects died, including 29 subjects who died from malignancy. Subjects in the highest tertile of serum VAP-1 had a significantly higher risk of cancer incidence (p=0.0006), cancer mortality (p=0.0001), and all-cause mortality (p=0.0002) than subjects in the other tertiles. The adjusted hazard ratios per one standard deviation increase in serum VAP-1 concentrations were 1.28 for cancer incidence (95% CI=1.01–1.62), 1.60 for cancer mortality (95% CI=1.14–2.23), and 1.38 for all-cause mortality (95% CI=1.09–1.75). The predictive performance of serum VAP-1 was better than that of gender, smoking, body mass index, hypertension, diabetes, and estimated glomerular filtration rate but lower than that of age for cancer incidence, cancer mortality, and all-cause mortality, as evidenced by higher increments in concordance statistics and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve. Conclusion: Serum VAP-1 levels are associated with a 12-year risk of incident cancer, cancer mortality, and all-cause mortality in a general population.