Lipid-associated sialic acid levels in human breast cyst fluids

Benign mammary gross cystic disease is the most common breast lesion. Women with apocrine changes of epithelium lining the cysts are at higher risk for developing breast cancer than the normal female population. Sialic acid has drawn considerable interest because of carbohydrate aberrations in malignant cells. The current investigation determined the concentrations of lipid-associated sialic acid (LASA) in 62 breast cyst fluids and sera. Data analyses show a significant increase in the mean values of LASA in metabolically active apocrine cysts when compared to the cysts with Na+/K+ > 3 (flattened cysts) (p < 0.001). The greater LASA levels in cyst fluids with lower intracystic Na+/K+ ratios could represent an altered expression of biosynthetic activity of the surrounding apocrine cell surface sialoglycolipid metabolism, providing a possible explanation of why women with apocrine cysts may be at greater cancer risk and being useful in further studies on functional stage changes in the cysts and their relationship to breast cancer.