Clinical utility of apoptotic biomarkers as predictors of out come breast cancer patients

Breast cancer is an increasing public health problem. Substantial advances have been made in the treatment of breast cancer, chemotherapy treatment for tumors induce apoptosis in malignant cells. Soluble PDCD-4 and Cytochrome c are key elements in the process of apoptosis. The objective of this study was to evaluate the changes in the serum concentrations of these parameters in breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Sixty two patients with histopathologically proven breast cancer were included in the present study. The blood samples were taken after surgery before chemotherapy and after 4 weeks of administration of the first cycle of chemotherapy. Thirty five healthy female controls were selected for comparison. PDCD-4 and Cytochrome c were estimated in serum by ELISA technique. Significantly increased concentrations of soluble PDCD-4 and Cytochrome c were found in group I and group II of breast cancer patients after chemotherapy compared with concentrations before chemotherapy (P<0.0001). Cytochrome c shows positive correlation with breast cancer stages while PDCD-4 shows negative correlation with breast cancer stages. Serum concentrations of apoptotic markers such as PDCD-4 and Cytochrome c were increased after administration of chemotherapeutic drugs. The measurement of these circulating apoptotic markers may help in evaluating treatment efficacy in breast cancer.