Trace elements; copper, zinc and selenium, in breast cancer afflicted female patients in LAUTECH Osogbo, Nigeria

BACKGROUND: There is an indication of the possibility of the direct or indirect influence of trace element in the development and prevention of malignant diseases, the contribution of the trace elements in the etiology of breast cancer has been under scrutiny. AIMS: The aim of this study was to determine the serum concentration of trace element in serum of female patients with breast cancer in comparison with healthy controls. SETTINGS: Breast Clinic of the Department of Surgery LAUTECH University teaching hospital Osogbo, in south-western Nigeria. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional age matched controlled prospective study wherein the venous blood sample of 30 patients with breast cancer and 30 healthy volunteers as controls were analyzed using atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The collected data were analyzed using statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS Inc) 16. RESULT: The mean serum concentration of the copper, zinc and selenium were 95.3 +/- 4.9 ug/dl and 65.2 +/- 15 ug/dl, 62.7 +/- 15.7 ug/dl and 93.5 +/- 7.2 ug/dl, 45.0 +/- 4.6 ug/l and 76.4 +/- 8.9 ug/l in the two groups respectively. The concentrations of copper and copper-zinc ratio (C/Z) were significantly higher in the cancer bearing group compared to the controls (C/Z 1.6 +/- 0.5 against 0.70 +/- 0.14 the P < 0.01). The concentration of zinc and selenium in the venous blood of the breast cancer patients showed inverse relationship while that of the control showed a direct relationship (-0.03 against 0.09). In the breast cancer patients the correlation of copper and zinc, copper and selenium and zinc and selenium showed inverse relationships, none of the relationships was statistically significant. CONCLUSION: We found a significant association between the serum concentration of trace elements and breast cancer.