title: Impact of inflammatory markers on the prognosis of patients with operable breast cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the effect of inflammatory markers on the prognosis of patients with operable breast cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study was conducted on breast cancer patients followed up between December 2009 and December 2012 at the Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Hacettepe University Medical School. A total of 704 patients with stages I to III disease whose inflammatory markers were assessed at the time of diagnosis were included the study. Serum C-reactive protein (CRP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), albumin, ferritin, β2 microglobulin (β2-M), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels were evaluated as inflammatory markers.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The median age at diagnosis was 50 years (range 25-92). Of the patients 42.8% were premenopausal and 48.2 % postmenopausal. Invasive ductal carcinoma was the most common histology (76.5 %). Serum ferritin, LDH, β2-M, ESR, and CRP were higher than the normal values in 1.0, 4.3, 9.5, 32.4 and 36.4 % of the patients, respectively. Serum albumin levels were lower than the normal values in 1.7 % of the patients. The median patient follow-up period was 22 months (range 3-227). During follow-up, metastatic disease developed in 31 patients (4.4%) and 11 patients (1.56%) died due to disease progression. Two-year overall survival (OS) and disease free survival (DFS) rates were not statistically different among patients with normal and abnormal values with respect to albumin, ferritin, LDH, β2-M, CRP, and ESR.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study is the first study to investigate the effect of inflammatory markers on the prognosis of operable breast cancer patients. We showed that inflammatory markers such as ESR, CRP, ferritin, β2-M, albumin and LDH have no effect on prognosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Hacettepe University Cancer Institute, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ibrahim
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Petekkaya
authors.forename: Sercan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aksoy
authors.forename: Emir C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Roach
authors.forename: Alexis K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Okoh
authors.forename: Gizen
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gecmez
authors.forename: Gamze
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gezgen
authors.forename: Deniz C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Isler
authors.forename: Erkan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Dogan
authors.forename: Taner
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Babacan
authors.forename: Furkan
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sarici
authors.forename: Emine
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Petekkaya
authors.forename: Kadri
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Altundag
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001799:Blood Sedimentation; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000401:mortality*; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D005293:Ferritins / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000150:complications*; D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase / Q000097:blood; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D012709:Serum Albumin / Q000032:analysis; D001613:beta 2-Microglobulin / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D012709:Serum Albumin; D001613:beta 2-Microglobulin; D002097:C-Reactive Protein; D005293:Ferritins; D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase