Evaluation of Zinc, Copper and Cu/Zn ratio in sera of women with breast cancer in Kirkuk City

Abstract

The aim of this study was evaluating Zinc, Copper and Cu/Zn ratio in sera of women with breast cancer (BC) in Kirkuk City. The study involved 60 breast cancer women (20 on chemotherapy, 20 pre-operation, and 20 post-operation) and 20 women with benign breast tumors (BBT) as a disease control, all compared to 20 apparently healthy control women. Serum used to evaluate the levels of zinc and copper in control and patient groups, Cu/Zn ratio was also calculated. The results showed a highly significant (P<0.01) reduction in the mean serum zinc level of the total BC group (77.65 ± 8.49 µg/dl) and in its subgroups (on chemotherapy, pre- and post-operation) (78.85 ± 5.26; 72.8 ± 10.08; 81.3 ± 7.37 µg/dl) respectively and in benign breast tumor (82.55 ± 4.9 µg/dl), compared to that of healthy control (HC) group (93.55 ± 12.88 µg/dl ).While a highly significant (P<0.01) elevation of mean serum copper concentration was found in total BC (150.92 ± 14.78 µg/dl) and in (Chemotherapy, Pre & Post-operation ) breast cancer subgroups (148.65 ± 13.16, 154.9 ± 15.16, 149.2 ± 15.39 µg/dl) respectively, and in BBT (148.45±16.57 µg/dl) compared to HC (122.5 ± 13.33 µg/dl). In addition to a highly significant elevation in the mean serum Cu/Zn ratio in the total BC group (1.96 ± 0.36) and in breast cancer patients on Chemotherapy, Pre-operation and Post-operation (1.88 ± 0.19), (2.17 ± 0.52), (1.83 ± 0.13) respectively and in benign breast tumor (1.79 ± 0.22) compared to that of the HC group (1.32 ± 0.21) (p< 0.01). It is concluded from this study that the elevation of copper and Cu/Zn ratio may indicate increased oxidative stress in breast cancer which implicated in the etiology of breast cancer.