Evaluation of Oxidative Stress Involvement in Breast Cancer Carcinogenesis

Background: According to GLOBOCAN estimates, breast cancer was found to be the most often diagnosed cancer in women worldwide, (11.7%) and the fourth leading cause of cancer mortality (6.9%). The present study was aimed to evaluate the involvement of oxidative stress on breast cancer carcinogenesis in Egyptian population.

Methods: Lipid peroxidation as evidenced by malondialdehyde (MDA) and nitric oxide (NO) stress as well as the status of the antioxidants superoxide dismutase (SOD) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) were estimated in serum of 163 breast cancer patients. Correlations between oxidative/ antioxidant profile and different prognostic variables in BC patients were estimated.

Results: Lipid peroxidation in BC was enhanced in response to cancer stage and tumor size (p < 0.01). Similarly, NO was increase in response to NPI, Her2/neu and cancer stage (p < 0.02). Inversely in antioxidant, SOD was decrease in response to Her2/neu only (p < 0.002). While, TAC was increase in response to cancer stage and tumor size (p < 0.01). We found that oxidative/antioxidant status was dependent on NPI, Her2/neu, cancer stage and tumor size of BC patients.

Conclusion: Higher oxidative stress generation and lower SOD activity were found in our study, which supports the oxidative stress concept in breast carcinogenesis.