Preliminary Study on Serum Lactate Dehydrogenase (LDH)-Prognostic Biomarker in Carcinoma Breast

Serum Lactate Dehydrogenase (LDH) is one of the biochemical markers for breast cancer. Serum LDH is enzyme required for anaerobic glycolysis. One of its isoenzyme is increased in breast cancer due to up-regulation in its gene. It leads to increase in serum LDH level in breast cancer patients. Serum LDH is economical, easily available and easy to estimate.

In the present study, we evaluated the LDH levels in circulation of newly diagnosed patients of breast cancer and tried to correlate it with different TNM staging of carcinoma breast before interventions and after adjuvant therapy of these patients.

This prospective study was done on 83 diagnosed patients of breast cancer was conducted among poor patients in rural area. This study was conducted in the Department of Surgery between October 2008 to October 2010, at MGIMS, Sevagram, Maharashtra, a rural medical college located in Central India. Out of total 83 participants, 10 participants were having adverse events following surgery and remaining 73 participants were without adverse events following surgery. The significant difference in serum LDH levels between two groups, with and without adverse surgical outcome was calculated by Mann-Whitney U test.

Patients with higher clinical TNM staging were having higher serum LDH levels. The serum LDH levels at sixth months following surgery showed a trend of statistically significant difference between patients with and without adverse events. As increased serum LDH levels in breast cancer patients shows poor prognosis, surgical outcome or advanced metastases.

Serum LDH monitoring can be used as a prognostic biomarker in patients of breast cancer. For confirmation of this finding, we require further more studies on larger sample size and long-term follow-up in patients specifically with higher serum LDH levels.