Postoperative hyperprolactinaemia and early recurrence rate in breast cancer

Hydroxyl safflower yellow B combined with doxorubicin inhibits the proliferation of human breast cancer MCF-7 cells

Doxorubicin (DOX) is currently the preferred chemotherapeutic agent for breast cancer, and hydroxyl safflower yellow B (HSYB) has a tumor growth-inhibiting activity. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of HSYB combined with DOX on the proliferation of human breast cancer MCF-7 cells and explore the underlying mechanism. MTT and cell colony formation assays revealed that the proliferation rate of MCF-7 cells was signifiscantly decreased after HSYB and DOX treatment. Combined HSYB and DOX treatment significantly decreased the expression levels of BCL-2 in MCF-7 cells, while the expression levels of apoptosis-associated proteins, including cleaved caspase-9, BAX and cleaved caspase-3, were markedly increased. Furthermore, flow cytometry and western blot analysis demonstrated that combined HSYB and DOX treatment stimulated an increase in intracellular reactive oxygen species and promoted the release of cytochrome c, leading to apoptosis. The current data suggested that the combination of HSYB and DOX may have marked antitumor activity.

Serum Levels of Insulin-Like Growth Factor-I in Operable Breast Cancer in Relation to the Main Prognostic Variables and their Perioperative Changes in Relation to those of Prolactin

Aims and background

In addition to estrogens, prolactin (PRL) and IGF-I have also appeared to stimulate breast cancer growth. The present study was performed to evaluate IGF-I blood levels in operable breast cancer in relation to PRL values and the main prognostic variables.

Methods

The study included 40 patients, clinical stage T1-3NO-2MO. Venous blood samples were collected before and 7 days after surgery. PRL and IGF-I were measured by radioimmunoassay. The control group consisted of 50 healthy women.

Results

Mean serum levels of IGF-I were significantly higher in patients than in controls, without any apparent relation to the main prognostic variables, including estrogen receptor and node status. Surgery-induced hyperprolactinemia occurred in 22/40 patients. IGF-I mean concentrations observed in the postoperative period in patients with surgery-induced hyperprolactinemia were significantly lower than those seen in patients showing no postoperative PRL rise.

Conclusions

The study showed that operable breast cancer may be associated with abnormally high levels of tumor growth factor IGF-I, and that surgery was followed by an IGF-I decline only in patients who showed surgery-induced hyperprolactinemia. Our previous studies have shown that postoperative hyperprolactinemia is a favorable prognostic factors for operable breast cancer. The present study, by showing that a postoperative PRL rise is associated with a fall in IGF-I, would suggest that surgery-induced hyperprolactinemia may determine a lower tumor relapse rate by determining a diminished secretion of breast tumor growth factor IGF-I.

Serum prolactin levels and their relationship to survival in women with operable breast cancer

The prognostic value of serum prolactin levels was assessed in a sequential series of 739 patients who were initially treated at Guy's Hospital, London, between 1975 and 1980. Prolactin was measured in 472 patients 1 day before (Hpr1) and in 457 patients 10 days after (Hpr2) mastectomy. Follow-up of the patients was up to August 1992 giving 6139 women-years with a median follow-up time of 11.5 years (13.7 for patients still living and 5.1 for those dead). The association between the three prolactin variables and reproductive and clinical factors was examined before assessing the prognostic value of prolactin levels in terms of overall, disease-specific and disease-free survival. Multivariate survival models were used in order to adjust for the effect of other prognostic variables. These were found to be: tumour size, degree of nodal involvement, tumour grade and age at diagnosis. The results showed that high Hpr2 or high postoperative increase in prolactin (i.e. Hpr2-Hpr1) were significantly related to shorter disease-specific survival (p = 0.04 and 0.01, respectively) in postmenopausal women. In addition there was some indication, which did not attain formal significance, for this association to occur for disease-free survival. Thus the rise in blood prolactin levels after surgery may be a weak indicator of poor prognosis of breast cancer in postmenopausal women.