Serum Ig and Cytokine Levels in Women with Breast Cancer Before and After Mastectomy

To evaluate serum Ig, complements IL-6, and TNF- in breast cancer patients and to evaluate their role in disease process.
Blood samples were collected from 30 women with primary breast cancer before operation and another blood samples were collected from 23 of them after three cycles of chemotherapy. In addition to this, 20 samples were collected from apparently healthy women as a control group from the outpatient department.
Radial immune diffusion test was performed for the detection of serum IgG, IgA, IgM, C3, and C4, while ELISA test was used for the detection of serum IL-6 and TNF-.
Serum IgG and IgA levels for patients (preoperative) were 1926.84 ± 612.60 mg/dl and 484.750 ± 201.98 mg/dl, respectively. These values were higher than the respective values for the control group (1536.61±441.29 mg/dl and 318.57±124.54 mg/dl) (P < 0.05).These values for IgG and IgA increased with the advancement in the disease stages, while that for IgM showed no significant change.
The level of the serum complement component C3 for the patients (211.50 ± 79.39 mg/dl) was significantly higher than that for the control group (150.71± 39.93 mg/dl) (P<0.05). C3 and C4 levels were positively correlated with the disease stages.
IL-6 and TNF- levels for breast cancer patients were 222.5 ± 68.86 pg/ml and 246.72 ±197.74 pg/ml, respectively. These values were significantly higher than the respective values of the control group (171.3 ± 64.85 pg/ml and 131.52 ± 108.92 pg/ml) (P<0.05)/.These values were found to increase with the advancement of the disease stages but were not statistically significant.
In conclusion, the elevation of serum IgG, IgA, C3, C4, IL-6, and TNF- levels can be considered as an indication for disease status before and after treatment as well as relapses.