Evaluation of leukocyte arylsulfatase-A activity in patients with breast cancer and benign breast disease.
This study was planned to evaluate the feasibility of using the assay of leukocyte arylsulfatase-A (AS-A) activity as a non-invasive diagnostic tool in patients with benign and malignant breast disease. The leukocyte AS-A activity of a total of 81 women was analyzed, including 28 healthy women, 29 women with benign breast disease (BBD) and 24 patients with primary breast cancer (BC). The mean leukocyte AS-A activity in patients with BBD was slightly higher (14.3%) that observed in the healthy subjects, but the difference was not statistically significant. In patients with BC the enzyme activity was significantly higher than in the healthy subjects (60.3%, P<0.05) and in the benign group (40.2%, P<0.05). In addition, since no significant differences have been observed between premenopausal patients and their controls, it is suggested that the measurement of leukocyte AS-A activity may not be a reliable test for differential diagnosis of benign and malignant proliferation in mammary glands due to the possible interfering effect of gonadal hormones on AS-A activity. In contrast, since peri- and postmenopausal BC patients have negligible or no gonadal activity function, the elevation in the activity of leukocyte AS-A in these age groups of patients may only be expected to originate from malignant proliferation. Based on our results, it is concluded that in patients in whom high leukocyte AS-A activities were observed the possibility of the presence of malignancy might also be high. Therefore, this test might be valuable as a non-invasive biochemical technique in combination with other established markers for the identification of masses in the breast.
Türkmen
S
S
Department of Biochemistry, Social Insurance Institution, Okmeydani Educational Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
Oner
P
P
Cinar
F
F
Koçak
H
H
Güvenen
G
G
Altun
H
H
Eryavuz
Y
Y
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002553:Cerebroside-Sulfatase / Q000032:analysis*; D004796:Clinical Enzyme Tests / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007962:Leukocytes / Q000201:enzymology; D008875:Middle Aged; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D002553:Cerebroside-Sulfatase