Abstract
The aim of the work was to study the metabolic characteristics of saliva in breast cancer and the subsequent assessment of the potential information content of its individual biochemical indicators. The study included 487 patients of the Omsk Clinical Oncology Center with morphologically verified breast cancer and 298 volunteers without breast pathologies. Saliva samples were obtained from all patients before the start of treatment, and the values of 34 biochemical indicators were determined. It has been shown that concentration of total protein, urea, uric acid (UA), the total content of α-amino acids and lipid peroxidation products, and the activity of metabolic and antioxidant enzymes (in particular catalase—CAT) of saliva changed significantly in breast cancer. Biochemical indicators characterizing early breast cancer have been identified, which can be used for timely diagnosis in addition to existing methods. The coefficients UA/Urea and UA·CAT/Urea are proposed, for which the maximum deviation from the norm was observed in the early stages of the disease. It was shown that for ductal breast cancer, changes in the activity of metabolic enzymes of saliva were more pronounced, while, for lobular breast cancer, the indicators of enzymatic and non-enzymatic components of antioxidant protection changed. The results confirmed the potential importance of saliva in the diagnosis of breast cancer.
Highlights
Breast cancer (BC) is the most common female cancer worldwide
We observed a change in the metabolic profile of saliva in breast cancer (Table 1)
We have shown that in breast cancer there is a decrease in the content of total protein, which is consistent with the literature data [22]
Summary
Breast cancer (BC) is the most common female cancer worldwide. According to GLOBOCAN 2020, breast cancer is the leader in the structure of global incidence (24.5% of all malignant tumors) and consistently ranks first in the structure of global mortality in women (15.5% of deaths from malignant tumors) [1]. The incidence rates of breast cancer in the world over the past 30 years have increased, which is associated with an absolute and relative increase in incidence [2]. The 5-year survival rate for breast cancer can approach 90% in developed countries when it is detected at an early stage [3]. Early detection of breast cancer is important to improve prognosis and survival [4,5]. Technologies that allow for detecting breast cancer at an early stage include digital mammography, magnetic resonance imaging of the mammary glands with contrast, elastography [6]. Tumor markers are considered a non-invasive and cost-effective way to monitor the course of the disease, determine the prognosis and plan treatment by predicting the response to treatment [10], but their applicability for the diagnosis of breast cancer has not been confirmed [11,12]
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