| Trace metal (μg/g tissue) |
Control group (Group I)
(n=20) |
Group II (50 benign breast tumor patients) |
Group III (77 malignant breast tumor patients) |
| Non-metastatic (Group III a) |
Metastatic (Group III b) |
| Copper |
0.65 ± 0.2 |
0.84 ± 0.28 |
2.35 ± 0.62 (a) |
3.79 ± 0.69 (a, c) |
| 3.07 ± 0.99 (a, b) |
| Zinc |
13.85 ± 4.54 |
14.86 ± 2.36 |
18 ± 0.67 (a) |
23.22 ± 3.6 (a, c) |
| 20.71 ± 3.71 (a, b) |
| Manganese |
0.25 ± 0.09 |
0.25 ± 0.1 |
0.26 ± 0.096 |
0.31 ± 0.122 |
| 0.3 ± 0.11 |
| Iron |
3.67 ± 0.95 |
6.56 ± 1.16 |
8.89 ± 1.03 (a) |
11.65 ± 1.83 (a, c) |
| 10.32 ± 2.04 (a, b) |
(a) Significant against control group; (b) Significant against benign group; (c) Significant against non-metastatic cancer group; Significant at P<0.05 |
