ADIPOQ and breast cancer: Our initial observations based on a case control study, were confirmed by subsequent studies showing that lower-circulating adiponectin levels are associated with increased risk of breast cancer (Miyoshi et al, 2003; Mantzoros et al, 2004; Chen et al, 2005) independent of age, menopause status, hormone receptor status, lymph nodes metastases, status of oestrogen receptor, HER2/neu (Chen et al, 2005).