Abstract
Relationships between the concentration of circulating IGFBP-7 and risk of disease and mortality have been suggested by small-scale investigations. In this prospective study, we investigated these relationships among 53,003 UK Biobank participants. Higher IGFBP-7 level was significantly associated with increased risk for liver cancer, all-cause mortality, diabetes, and other diseases. Associations were robust across sex and age groups and persisted over long follow-up. IGFBP-7 polygenic risk scores also predicted cancer and mortality risk. IGFBP-7 level was strongly correlated with levels of previously identified aging-related proteins, but after adjustment for these proteins, remained associated with risk of bladder cancer, liver cancer, multiple myeloma, all-cause mortality, liver-related mortality, and diabetes. Our findings indicate IGFBP-7 as a novel biomarker of mortality and disease risk.
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Acknowledgements
We acknowledge the UKB participants for their dedication to participating in ongoing research and electronic health record linkage. All UKB data were accessed under the UKB application no. 46466. This study was supported in part by grants to M.N.P. from the Terry Fox Foundation New Frontiers Program (Canada) and the Cancer Research Society (Montreal), and to M.S. from the National Institutes of Health (R01CA285851).
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Li, Z., Tao, C., Zhou, Z. et al. Circulating levels of insulin-like growth factor binding protein 7 are associated with risks of chronic diseases and death. npj Aging (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41514-026-00400-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41514-026-00400-x
