ABSTRACT
Inflammatory cells surround breast carcinomas and may act promoting tumor development or stimulating anti-tumor immunity. N-acetylglucosaminidase (NAG) has been employed to detect macrophage accumulation/activation. Myeloperoxidase (MPO) is considered a marker for neutrophils activity/accumulation. Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) is as strong pro-angiogenic cytokine. The aim of this study was to measure the systemic inflammatory response by measuring serum levels of NAG, MPO and VEGF in women diagnosed with breast cancer and associate this response to the peritumoral inflammatory infiltrate and to prognostic factors. Serum samples obtained from women with no evidence of disease (n=31) and with breast cancer (n=68) were analyzed for the activities of NAG, MPO and VEGF by enzymatic assay. Serum levels of NAG and VEGF were higher in healthy volunteers (P<0.0001) and serum levels of MPO were higher in patients with breast cancer (P=0.002). Serum levels of NAG were positively correlated to serum levels of MPO and VEGF (P<0.0001 and P=0.0012, respectively) and MPO and VEGF serum levels had also a positive correlation (P=0.0018). The inflammatory infiltrate was not associated to serum levels of the inflammatory markers, and higher levels of MPO were associated to lymphovascular invasion negativity (P=0.0175).
Subject(s)
Acetylglucosaminidase/blood , Breast Neoplasms/blood , Breast Neoplasms/immunology , Peroxidase/blood , Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A/blood , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Breast Neoplasms/pathology , Case-Control Studies , Female , Humans , Inflammation/blood , Middle Aged , Prognosis , Prospective Studies , Surveys and Questionnaires , Young AdultABSTRACT
The inflammatory response is an active process in cervical cancer and may act in the progression and/or regression of the lesion. At the site of inflammation, macrophages and neutrophils are present as well as cytokines such as TNF-α and IFN-γ. This study aims to evaluate the inflammatory response levels in women with cervical intraepithelial lesions (CIN) and with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the cervix. Serum samples obtained from women without evidence of disease (n=30), with CIN (n=30) and with SCC of the cervix (n=30) were analyzed for the activities of N-acetylglucosaminidase (NAG) and myeloperoxidase (MPO) by enzymatic assay and the serum levels of TNF-α and IFN-γ by ELISA assay. The activities of NAG and MPO and the level of TNF-α were higher in women with CIN compared to the women with SCC. The levels of IFN-γ were lower in the group of women with CIN compared to the group with SCC. There was not a significant association between the degree of the CIN and the staging of the SCC of the cervix and the degree of inflammation as assessed by the levels of inflammatory markers. The inflammatory response was inversely correlated with the progression of the carcinogenic process. In the three groups, the control group, women with CIN and women with invasive SCC, there was no association between the degree of preinvasive lesions and staging of the SCC of the cervix.
