[Hydroxyproline in breast cancer].

The content of hydroxyproline was determined in cancerous and noncancerous tissues obtained from 40 patients with primary breast cancer, and investigated from a clinicopathologic viewpoint. The level of hydroxyproline in cancerous tissue was higher than that in normal mammary gland, but was lower than that of the tissue of mastopathy. In relation to the histologic type, the level was the highest in scirrhous carcinoma, followed by papillotubular and solid tubular carcinoma. With regard to lymph node metastasis, the hydroxyproline level was significantly higher in positive than in negative metastatic cases. The corresponding level tended to be higher in patients at stages II-IV than in those at stage I. There was no obvious relationship to tumor size. However, a significant, negative correlation was found between the hydroxyproline level and patient age. Thus, the content of hydroxyproline was found to be closely related to age and clinicopathologic factors such as the histologic type and degree of lymph node metastasis.