ELEVATED LEVELS OF POLYAMINES AND THEIR DERIVATIVES IN BREAST CANCER TISSUES

Abstract

Tissue polyamines were examined in 111 cases of breast cancer and 15 cases of benign breast tumor. Three common polyamines, i.e., putrescine, spermidine and spermine were found in all the tissue samples analyzed. The levels of the three polyamines were 5 to 7 times higher in breast cancer tissue than in normal breast tissue, and 2 to 4 times higher in cancer tissue than in benign breast tumors. Moreover, N1-acetylspermidine was detected in 89.2% of cancer tissue, 20.0% of benign tumor tissue and in only 2.0% of normal breast tissue.There was no significant difference in the polyamine levels of ER (estrogen receptor) -negative carcinomas and ER-positive carcinomas. The N1-Acetylspermidine levels of ER-negative tumors were higher than those of ER-positive tumors. Similar findings were found with respect to the PgR (Progesterone receptor) status of tumors. Putrescine levels of breast cancer tissue were significantly higher in pre-menopausal women than in the post-menopausal group. The spermidine levels of normal breast tissue were significantly higher in the pre-menopausal group than in the post-menopausal group.Besides the above three polyamines, two minor unknown polyamines, X-1 and X-2, were detected in about 9% of breast cancer tissue. The retention time of X-1 corresponded to that of homospermidine and the retention time of X-2 corresponded to that of aminopropylhomospermidine or canavalmine. The fraction containing X-1 was incubated with either putrescine oxidase or polyamine oxidase and the oxidation products were analyzed. Product analysis showed that X-1 was indeed identical to homospermidine.