Examining the relationship between social support and inflammatory markers among patients with gynecologic cancer.

Abstract

5626 Background: Social support has been associated with improved health outcomes. Little research on the association between social support and inflammatory markers has been done among patients with gynecological cancer. The aim of this study is to examine whether there is an association between social support and inflammatory markers in patients currently receiving treatment for gynecologic cancer. Methods: These data were collected from a prospective cohort study designed to investigate the potential associations between cardiometabolic health and cancer treatment among women with gynecological cancer. As a secondary outcome, social support was assessed using the social provision scale (SPS), with higher scores indicating greater perceived social support. Fasting venous blood was collected for inflammatory marker analysis (Interleukin-6: IL-6, Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha: TNF-α, C-reactive protein: CRP). Descriptive statistics included means for continuous variables and frequencies for categorical variables. Correlation analyses were used to assess the degree of relationship between variables. Partial correlations were used to adjust for potential confounders. Study protocol was approved by IRB at the University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine. Results: A total of 43 women with gynecological cancer (primary site: uterus = 16, ovary = 24, cervix = 1, vulva/vagina = 2) completed study measures. The mean age was 63.5 years (SD=10.5). Regarding participants characteristics, 91% identified as White, 99% identified as non-Hispanic, 35% reported being high school graduate or GED, 45% were unemployed, 66% were married, 51.2% had newly diagnosed cancer, 49% had metastatic disease, 74% received chemotherapy only, 14% immunotherapy, 12% combination of both immunotherapy and chemotherapy. SPS scores were negatively correlated with IL-6 (ρ = –0.362, p = 0.038), indicating that higher perceived social support was associated with lower IL-6 levels. SPS scores were not significantly correlated with CRP (ρ = –0.09, p = 0.62) and TNF-α (ρ = –0.295, p = 0.096). After adjusting for BMI, SPS score showed significant associations with IL-6 (ρ = –0.406, p = 0.021) and TNF-α (ρ = –0.360, p = 0.043), but its relationship with CRP (ρ = –0.029, p = 0.874) remained non-significant. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest a negative association between social support and inflammation among patients with gynecologic cancer. Future research may consider exploring the pathways to explain this relationship and identify possible interventions focused on social support to decrease inflammatory processes among patients with gynecologic cancer.