Assessment of Cancer biomarkers and biochemical parameters across breast Cancer stages: Correlation with age and comorbidities.

Background And Objectives: Breast cancer is a public health concern that threatens women globally. The study aimed to examine the levels of Interleukin-10 (IL-10), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and cancer antigen 15-3 (CA 15-3), along with various biochemical parameters (ferritin, hemoglobin (Hb), glutathione (GSH), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), and aspartate aminotransferase (GOT) at different stages of breast cancer patients. Secondly, to determine the effects of patients' ages and comorbidity on the levels of IL-10 and CEA.

Methods: This study was conducted at the Kirkuk Oncology and Hematology Centre in Iraq, from May to November 2024. The study population consisted of two groups: 284 women, diagnosed with various stages of breast cancer (T1N0M0, T2N1M0, and T3N2M1) and 60 healthy women served as the control group. One-way ANOVA was used to determine statistically significant differences between control and various cancer stages, and the Pearson Correlation Coefficient to assess the correlation between different variables.

Results: Our data indicated that IL-10 and CEA levels were destructively upregulated in BC patients; specifically, IL-10 and CEA were raised four-fold and seven-fold, respectively, compared to the control group (IL-10: 30.1 ± 2.1 vs. 7.3 ± 1.1 (pg/ml), respectively), (CEA: 6.3 ± 1.8 vs. 0.8 ± 0.1 (ng/ml) respectively). Furthermore, BC patients demonstrated high levels of IL-10 and CEA, irrespective of the cancer stages, patients' ages, and the presence of comorbidity. The levels of CA 15-3 and other biochemical parameters (ferritin, Hb, GSH, LDH, ALP, GGT, GOT) were raised significantly at all cancer stages compared to the control group (p < 0.05), the values were within normal ranges. However, Hb was significantly reduced at all cancer stages compared to the control group (p < 0.05).

Conclusion: We concluded that breast cancer in women is associated with a destructive upregulation of IL-10 and CEA, irrespective of the disease stage, patients' ages, and the existence of comorbidity.