Affiliations: [a] Department of Biochemistry, G B Pant Hospital, New Delhi, India | [b] Department of Ocular Biochemistry, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Centre for Ophthalmic Sciences, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Ansari Nagar, New Delhi, India | [c] Department of Surgery, Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi, India | [d] Department of Biochemistry, Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi, India
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Dr. Binita Goswami, Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry, Room No 410, 4th floor, Academic Block, G B Pant hospital, New Delhi, India. Tel.: + 91 97185 99056; E-mail: binita.dr@gmail.com.
Abstract: Objectives:Oxidative stress and pro-inflammatory mediators have been implicated in breast carcinogenesis. We attempted to evaluate the markers of oxidative stress, antioxidant mechanism and the inflammatory pathway in patients with breast cancer. Methods:This study was carried out in departments of Biochemistry and Surgery, Maulana Azad Medical College and associated Hospitals, New Delhi, India. A total of 60 cases of carcinoma of the breast and 60 healthy controls were included in the study. The parameters that were assayed include markers of oxidative stress-conjugated dienes, thiobarbitone reactive substances (TBARS), antioxidants-superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione (GSH) and markers of inflammation-interleukin-6(IL-6) and ferritin. Results:There was a significant decline in the antioxidant levels and a significant rise in oxidant levels in patients with carcinoma of the breast, compared to controls. The inflammatory markers-IL-6 and ferritin-were also significantly higher in patients with breast cancer. A significantly positive correlation was observed between the IL-6 levels and conjugated dienes with the stage of breast carcinoma; whilst a significantly negative correlation was observed between the levels of conjugated dienes and superoxide dismutase and superoxide dismutase levels with the disease staging. Conclusions:This study underlines the interplay between inflammatory pathways and oxidative stress in the pathogenesis of breast cancer. Mini Abstract:An intense research is underway to identify the possible risk factors and the molecular mechanisms involved in pathogenesis of breast cancer. Inflammation and oxidative stress are two such etiologies investigated in our study.
