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Volume 7 Issue 8 (August, 2019)

Original Articles

Assessment of serum zinc and copper levels in breast cancer patients- A case-control study
Pramila Gupta

Background: Breast cancer is the most common cause of cancer in women. Zinc is a vital trace element in many homeostatic mechanisms of the body.Copper and zinc are necessary for optimal performance of superoxide dismutase. Hence; the present study was undertaken for assessing and comparing the serum zinc and copper levels in breast cancer patients and healthy controls. Materials & methods: A total of 25 breast cancer patients were enrolled in the present study after meeting the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Another set of 25 subjects were enrolled as healthy controls. Serum samples were obtained from all the patients and were sent to pathology department for serum element analysis. Auto-analyzer was used and serum levels of copper and zinc were assessed. All the results were recorded in Microsoft excel sheet and were analyzed by SPSS software. Results: Mean serum copper levels among breast cancer patients were180.11 µg/dL, while mean serum copper levels among normal controls were 112.70 µg/dL. Mean serum zinc levels among breast cancer patients were 33.19 µg/dL, while mean serum zinc levels among normal controls were 88.15 µg/dL. While comparing the mean copper and zinc levels among breast cancer patients and healthy controls, significant results were obtained. Conclusion: Zinc and copper play a definitive role in the pathogenesis of breast cancer.
Key words: Breast Cancer, Copper, Zinc

Received: 15 April, 2019                            Revised:  25 July 2019                              Accepted: 26 July 2019

Corresponding Author: Dr. Pramila Gupta, Department of Pathology, Rajshree Medical Research Institute, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, India

This article may be cited as: Gupta P. Assessment of serum zinc and copper levels in breast cancer patients: A case-control study. J Adv Med Dent Scie Res 2019;7(8): 122-124.

 
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