RESUMO
The aim of this study was to analyze changes in autotoxin [ATX] [both enzyme activity and gene expression], metalloproteinase-9 [MMP-9] and p53 antibodies [Abs] serum levels in breast cancer patients and to correlate their results with various clinical, pathological features of breast cancer. Sixty female breast cancer patients [42 with lymph node [LN] metastasis and 18 without LN metastasis] were included in this study and subjected to determination of ATX [both activity by colorimetric method and gene expression by RT-PCR] and both p53 Abs and MMP-9 by ELISA technique. Our results showed that there were statistically significant differences between breast cancer patients with and without LN metastasis in all the studied parameters except for p53 Abs. ATX [both activity and gene expression] and the serum levels of both MMP-9 and p53 Abs, were significantly different between different stages and grades of breast cancer patients with increasing activity and levels from stage I to IV and from grade I to III. Only ATX [both activity and expression] was significantly different between patients with tumor size less than or more than 5. There was a highly significant correlation between ATX activity and gene expression. The present study suggested that ATX activity, MMP-9 and p53Abs could serve as useful and convenient prognostic and detection markers of metastasizing breast cancer. Also, ATX activity may be used as an index for increased ATX gene expression