Plasma Levels of Nitric Oxide and Indices of Oxidative Stress in Patients with Breast Cancer and Prostate Cancer

Abstract

Breast cancer (BCa) and prostate cancer (PCa) are cancers of different organs which share similarities as their development requires gonadal steroids and both are hormone-dependent. Reports have shown that oxidative stress (OS) and alteration in nitric oxide (NO) levels are associated with both BCa and PCa. Due to the dearth of information, plasma levels of NO and OS indices were determined in BCa and PCa patients with a view to identifying the group that is more affected by OS and altered NO levels and thus, could possibly benefit from intensive multi-antioxidant supplementation and/or therapy with NO. Plasma levels of NO, total plasma peroxide (TPP) and total antioxidant potential (TAP) were determined spectrophotometrically, in 88 adults comprising 30 patients with breast cancer, 28 patients with prostate cancer and 30 controls. Thereafter, the degree of OS was determined by calculating the oxidative stress index (OSI). The plasma TPP level and OSI were significantly lower in patients with breast cancer and in patients with prostate cancer compared with the controls. In BCa patients, the plasma TPP level and OSI were significantly higher while the plasma NO level was insignificantly lower compared with patients with PCa. In conclusion, oxidative stress in patients with breast cancer appears to be more severe than in patients with prostate cancer. Therefore, determination of the oxidative stress status of cancer patients may be of clinical importance before the utilization of nitric oxide-based therapies