Biochemistry & Analytical Biochemistry

Abstract

The Relationship between Serum Lipids and Breast Cancer in Libya

J. R. Peela, A. M. Jarari, S. O. El Saiety, S. El Busaifi, H. El Awamy and Shakila Srikumar

Background: Carcinoma breast is one of the major surgical problems in Libya, particularly in younger female subjects. Since it is a commonly encountered health risk, it is important to know the etiology and associated related factors of breast cancer in Libya. There are conflicting reports regarding the association between the dietary lipids and serum lipid profiles and breast cancer. It is a fact that local dietary habits, environmental factors along with genetic predisposition play a role in the evolution of breast cancer. The present study was undertaken to identify whether there is such an association between alterations in lipid profile in carcinoma breast in a local Libyan subjects.
Material and methods: A total of 40 patients with various stages of breast cancer who were being treated at the department of surgery, 7th October hospital, Benghazi, Libya during 2009 and 2010 were recruited in the present study. Twenty one healthy volunteers were included as controls. These patients were categorized according to age, pre or post menopausal status and body mass index with their respective controls. Serum lipid profile was performed in all the cases and control groups using fasting blood samples. Total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol and Triglycerides were measured by standard kit methods and LDL cholesterol was calculated using Fried Wald’s formula.
Results: Serum total cholesterol and HDL cholesterol have been observed to be significantly elevated in patients with carcinoma breast when compared with those of controls (p=0.0046 and 0.004 respectively). However, the serum levels of LDL cholesterol and triglycerides did not show any significant alteration between that of the cases studied and the controls (p=0.42 and 0.092 respectively). In the case of premenopausal women, there is a significant rise of total cholesterol (p=0.0186) and HDL cholesterol (p=0.0031) whereas serum triglycerides (p=0.335) and LDL cholesterol (p=0.2617) had not shown any statistically significant variation. Furthermore, in the postmenopausal group, there is a significant elevation of serum triglycerides (p=0.0094), total cholesterol (p=0.0238) and HDL cholesterol (p=0.0457) but LDL cholesterol had not shown any significant variation. There is a significant variation between the triglyceride levels of postmenopausal women and the premenopausal women (p=0.0298).
Conclusion: This preliminary study has shown a significant alteration in serum lipid profile of breast cancer patients in the local Libyan female population. The interesting observation of high levels of HDL cholesterol in the patients needs further evaluation by extending the investigation further on and also extending the study on larger study group. Postmenopausal women have shown an increase in serum triglycerides levels, with an increase observed in serum total cholesterol and HDL cholesterol levels when compared to that of premenopausal women