BACKGROUND

Breast cancer (BC) is one of the most prevalent and reported cancers among Saudi women. Detection of BC in the early invasive stage (stages I, II) has an advantage in treating patients over detection in the late invasive stage (stages III, IV). Tumor markers are used to aid in diagnosis, treatment monitoring, and recurrence detection of malignant tumors. 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) is a marker of nucleic damage owing to oxidative stress.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

We studied the blood levels of 8-OHdG in 50 women with benign breast tumors, 50 women with BC, and 50 healthy women as a control group.

RESULTS

The concentrations of 8-OHdG were significantly increased in the BC group (55.2 ng/dL) compared with the benign tumor group (30.2 ng/dL) and with the healthy control group (9.08 ng/dL). The same pattern was observed with other diagnostic markers, including carcinoembryonic antigen and cancer antigen 15-3. Significant positive correlations between 8-OHdG and both carcinoembryonic antigen (r = 0.63; P < .001) and cancer antigen 15-3 (r = 0.51; P < .001) were noticed. The levels of 8-OHdG were significantly higher in stage I (81 ng/dL) compared with stage II (51 ng/dL; P < .05), stage III (38 ng/dL; P < .01), and stage IV (19 ng/dL; P < .001). In addition, serum 8-OHdG had a high diagnostic performance in BC (area under the curve, 0.86; sensitivity = 82%; specificity = 80% at cutoff value 21.4 ng/mL). 8-OHdG is associated with BC risk according to logistic regression analysis.

CONCLUSION

We concluded that the significant increase of serum levels of 8-OHdG in patients with BC can be used as a potential noninvasive biomarker for early detection of BC. However, large sample sizes from different stages and types of BC should be included in any future study to confirm the present findings before translating the findings into routine clinical application.