Abstract

Author(s): De Albuquerque Araújo, Letícia1; Freitas da Silva, Geirla Jane1; Oliveira Magalhães, Maryane1; Machado Maia, Fernanda Maria1; Lima de Moraes, Milena1; José dos Anjos, Marcelino2; Cordeiro Gurgel, Daniel1

Objectives: Evaluate the serum levels of iron (Fe), copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) and the nutritional status of women with breast cancer.

Methods: A cross-sectional and comparative study in 38 patients with breast cancer in clinical cancer treatment and 37 healthy women. Blood samples from both groups were collected. Were collected anthropometric parameters from the cancer group and also applied the Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment produced by the patient (PG-SGA). The determination of iron in serum was performed by fluorescent X-ray total reflection with synchrotron radiation (SR-TXRF).

Results: Mean serum Fe levels were higher in women with breast cancer (1.72 ± 1.15) than in women without cancer (1.17 ± 0.48) (p = 0.004). According to arm muscular area (AMA), was more prevalent in women with normal weight (60.5%) who had serum Fe level below the average (p = 0.011). There were no significant differences in serum Cu levels among patients with breast cancer and healthy (1.44 ± 0.30 vs. 1.45 ± 0.39), however there was a prevalence of hypozincemia in the study group patients compared to healthy subjects (1.11 ± 0.33 versus 0.91 ± 0.24). No other anthropometric parameter had significant correlation with iron, zinc and serum copper. According to BMI, 78.9%, 18.4% and 2.6% of patients were, respectively, overweight and obese, normal weight and malnourished.

Conclusion: The serum iron and zinc levels are increased in women with breast cancer compared with women without disease. The AMA were related to the levels of serum iron. It reinforces the importance of studying the relationship of these trace elements in breast carcinogenesis and changes in body composition caused by cancer or its treatment.