Abstract
Background: Several clinical studies suggest the prognostic significance of serum lipid levels and tissue DNA content in breast cancer. In the course of investigating the biological features of this disease among Egyptian female patients, we examined the serum lipid levels and tissue DNA content of premenopausal and postmenopausal breast cancer patients. Methods: Levels of total lipid, total cholesterol, and triglycerides were measured in the sera of women with breast cancer and compared with those of the control women. The DNA content in breast cancer tissue was also measured in these patients. Results: Total lipid levels showed a significant increase in both premenopausal (follicular and luteal) and postmenopausal patients. Total cholesterol levels significantly increased in premenopausal (follicular and luteal) patients with no significant change in postmenopausal women. Triglyceride levels showed a significant increase in postmenopausal women, whereas no significant differences were observed in premenopausal patients. Tumors of premenopausal patients, in both follicular and luteal phases, showed a higher DNA content as compared with those of postmenopausal patients. Breast cancer tissues of grade III showed significantly higher DNA content than those of grade I and grade II. Conclusions: This study suggests an association between high levels of serum, total lipid and total cholesterol, and increased breast cancer risk in premenopausal women. Such an association is also suggested for the high total serum lipid and triglyceride levels in postmenopausal women. The DNA content in breast cancer tissue might be useful in determining a suitable therapy for individual cases, based on the malignancy grade.