Increased Homocysteine Plasma Levels in Breast Cancer Patients of a Mexican Population

Abstract

Aim: Hyperhomocysteinemia has been associated with different pathologies, including cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, diabetes, and breast cancer (BC). To examine the differences in total homocysteine (tHcy) plasma levels, we compared healthy women to BC patients from a Mexican population. Materials and Methods: The tHcy plasma levels were measured using high-performance liquid chromatography with a fluorescence detector in 89 female controls and 261 BC patients. Results: The observed plasma tHcy levels were significantly higher among the BC patients (11.1019 ± 5.9161 µmol/l) compared to the controls (9.1046 ± 1.3213 µmol/l) (p = 0.002), and these differences were evident when stratified by age (≥ 50 years old), menopause status, overweight and obesity, miscarriages, node metastases, progression, subtype classification (luminal, Her2 and triple negative) and nonresponse to chemotherapy. Conclusions: The tHcy plasma levels could be a good marker for the progression and chemosensitivity of BC in the analyzed sample from a Mexican population.

A Folate- and Vitamin B12-Deficient Diet Decreases the Latency and Increases the Incidence of Mammary Tumors in MMTV-ErbB2 Transgenic Mice

“…Catechol estrogens further promote breast tumor formation via estrogen signaling [10,38,54,55] . Previous reports also suggested that high levels of catechol estrogens are associated with increased breast cancer risk [22,23] . Based on these data, the present study examined the effects of FVD-induced HHcy on activation of ErbB2/MAPK/PI3K/Akt and ERα signaling in premalignant mammary glands.…”

“…For example, a prospective case-control study of 812 patients with invasive breast cancer and 812 matched controls followed up for 10 years between and 2004 found that plasma levels of Hcy were not associated with overall breast cancer risk [52] . However, recent epidemiological and clinical studies examining China and Mexican populations found an increased incidence of HHcy and elevated plasma Hyc levels in patients with breast cancer [7,22] . Furthermore, Hcy levels were found to be positively associated with the proliferation rates of breast tumor [22] .…”

“…However, recent epidemiological and clinical studies examining China and Mexican populations found an increased incidence of HHcy and elevated plasma Hyc levels in patients with breast cancer [7,22] . Furthermore, Hcy levels were found to be positively associated with the proliferation rates of breast tumor [22] . Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase haplotypes also signi cantly affect breast cancer occurrence [21] .…”

“…HHcy is observed in ~ 5% of the general population [6,7] , and is associated with an increased risk for numerous disorders, including diabetes, renal disease, osteoporosis and different types of cancer [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] . Recently, accumulating evidence has identi ed higher prevalence of HHcy in breast cancer patients [7,21,22] . Moreover, HHcy has been shown to be associated with tumor suppressor epigenetic modulation in breast cancer patients [21] .…”

“…Based on these results, it was hypothesized that folate-and vitamin B12-de cient (FVD) diet-induced HHcy (FVD-induced HHcy) may increase breast cancer risk. At present, the relationship between FVD-induced HHcy and breast cancer remains controversial [7,[21][22][23] . For instance, whether elevated Hcy levels are pathological consequences or a cause of breast cancer has not yet been clari ed.…”