Hydroxyproline and zinc excretion in patients with neoplastic breast disease.

Hydroxyproline and zinc excretion was evaluated in 87 patients with neoplastic breast disease; 40 of these had carcinoma, without radiological and scintigraphy demonstration of bone metastases. In the group of patients with breast cancer, the mean values of hydroxyproline and zinc excretion were found to be significantly higher than in the group with benign breast disease; only 12 of the patients with histologically detected breast cancer had hydroxyprolinuria levels which were higher than the upper limit of the values obtained in the control group. The authors, therefore, conclude that the patients in this group must be considered as being at greater risk.