Evaluation of Serum Hormones and Biochemical Tumor Markers among Breast Cancer Patients in the South-South Region, Nigeria

Abstract

Breast cancer remains one of the most frequent malignancies in women and the primary cause of cancer-related death in women all over the world. Hormones and tumor biomarkers have been implicated as possible causes and prognostic biomarkers of breast cancer. The present study investigated the use of serum hormonal levels and tumor biomarkers; Carcinoembrvonic antigen (CEA), and cancer antigen (CA 15-3) for the diagnosis of Breast Cancer, and generation of different subtypes using Estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2). This study is a cross-sectional study comprising 120 subjects; sixty breast cancer patients, and sixty apparently healthy women who served as control. One hundred and twenty blood samples were collected and analyzed for estrogen, progesterone, Carcinoembrvonic antigen, and cancer antigen. The results showed that the peak age of incidence of breast cancer was 40-49 years. Majority (56.7%) of the cases were menopausal women, while 43.3% were in their premenopausal period. Serum estrogen, cancer antigen, and Carcinoembrvonic antigen concentrations were elevated significantly (p<0.05) in the breast cancer patients than the control group. Premenopausal patients have higher progesterone, estradiol, Carcinoembrvonic antigen, and cancer antigen levels than those during the postmenopausal period. HER2 negative subtype (50.0%) is the most prevalent subtype of breast cancer. 8.4% were triple negative (ER–/PR–/HER2–) cases, while 1.7% were triple positive (ER+/PR+/HER2+) cases. Breast cancer is strongly associated with hormonal changes especially estrogen and progesterone during the premenopausal and postmenopausal periods in women. Thus, the determination of the concentration of estrogen, progesterone, Carcinoembrvonic antigen, cancer antigen, and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 statuses could help in the prognosis of breast cancer.