ABSTRACT
Background: The study was to compare 25-hydroxy vitamin D levels in women with benign and malignant breast disease patients to the age-matched controls in a tertiary care center in North India.Methods: This was a prospective study carried out in the Department of Surgery, S.R.N. Hospital associated with M.L.N. Medical College, Allahabad. The levels of vitamin D are measured by electrochemiluminescence and the serum levels divided into normal, mild, moderate, and severe vitamin D deficiency.Results: Overall 60 patients were included. 30 was having malignant breast disease and 30 having benign breast disease. On comparing the mean value of serum vitamin D level between malignant breast disease and controls, the serum vitamin D level was found to be lesser in the former group and the difference was highly significant. On comparing the mean value of serum vitamin D level between benign breast disease and controls, the serum vitamin D level was found to be elevated in the former group, the difference was nonsignificant.Conclusions: Our study supports the hypothesis that vitamin D deficiency is an important risk factor in the development of malignant breast disease. The study was also concluded that vitamin D is not associated with the etiogenesis of benign breast diseases. There is also a possibility of using 25-hydroxy vitamin D as an adjuvant therapy during the treatment of breast malignancy.
ABSTRACT
Background: Breast cancer is the most common female cancer worldwide representing nearly a quarter (25%) of all cancers. Search for a marker which can predict lymph node metastasis in clinically negative axilla has been a matter of research for long. The present study is an attempt to evaluate role of coagulation makers with special reference to D-dimer and factor 7 and 8 in patients of carcinoma breast in predicting lymph node metastasis in carcinoma patients.Methods: The study was a prospective study conducted in 50 diagnosed patients of carcinoma breast in whom D dimer levels and factor 7 and 8 levels were measured at the time of commencement of the treatment and at six weeks after surgery.Results: Most of the patients in the study group were in the age group 41-70 (80%) years. 22% patients were of early Breast cancer. The reduction in D-dimer, factor VII and factor VIII value after 6 weeks of surgery were significant (p value 0.0001 for all three).Conclusions: D-dimer and factor VII were found to be an independent predictive factor for lymph node metastatsis, thus providing as a safe, easy, objective and convenient supplement to sentinel node biopsy in assessing metastatic disease in axilla. Combined- with other biomarkers, it may prove to be an alternative to sentinel node biopsy in assessing metastatic disease in axilla. Significant postoperative decrease in D-dimer, factor VII and factor VIII may provide objective criteria to assess completion of surgery.