Oxidative stress in relation to obesity in breast cancer

Breast carcinoma is one of the most common neoplasms in women and is a leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Obesity-induced chronic inflammation promoted by adipose tissue dysfunction is a key feature, which is thought to be an important link between obesity and cancer. Oxidative stress (OS) has been suggested to play an important role in carcinogenesis. Obese women have been shown to have higher levels of OS markers. The study was performed to know the influence of obesity on OS to be replaced with OS markers in patients with breast cancer.

Thirty women attending the outpatient Department of Surgical Oncology and Surgery at Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Science, Tirupati, who were clinically diagnosed and histologically confirmed with breast cancer were considered as the patients and 30 healthy women were included as controls. Malondialdehyde (MDA), protein carbonyls (PCC), and advanced oxidation protein products (AOPP) as oxidative markers along with protein thiols and ferric-reducing ability of plasma (FRAP) were studied as markers of antioxidant status.

Patients with breast cancer had significantly higher levels of MDA (P = 0.005), PCC, and AOPP compared to controls (P = 0.001) and significantly lower levels of thiols and FRAP compared to controls (P = 0.001). No significant correlation was found between OS markers and indices of obesity. A significant association was found between OS markers (P = 0.005), PCC (P = 0.002), AOPP (P = 0.002), and breast cancer.

Patients with breast cancer have increased OS as evidenced by an increase in oxidant markers and a decrease in antioxidant markers. OS is not related to their adiposity but is related to the presence of breast cancer.