New Delhi. CRP, a protein that signals inflammation and heart disease may also indicate that a person has a high risk of cancer, said Dr KK Aggarwal President, Heart Care Foundation of India.

CRP or C–reactive protein is associated with inflammation –– an activation of the immune system. Measurements of CRP should be part of a regular health check.

People with high levels of C–reactive protein have a 30 percent higher risk of cancer. Cancer patients with the highest CRP levels are 80 percent more likely to die early.

Dr. Kristine Allin and colleagues at the University of Copenhagen studied more than 10,000 people who had their CRP levels measured and who were then followed for 16 years. About 1,600 developed cancer over this time and if they had high CRP levels at the beginning of the study, they were 30 percent more likely to be in this group of cancer patients.

And if a person developed cancer and also had high CRP levels, they were 80 percent more likely to die, whether from the cancer or something else, regardless of whether the cancer spread in their bodies.

The study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology concluded that five years after cancer diagnosis, 40 percent of patients with high CRP levels were alive, compared with 70 percent of patients who had low CRP levels.