Alterations of Serum Lipids in Breast Cancer: Effects of Disease Activity,Treatment, and Hormonal Factors

Fasting venous blood collected from 83 patients with breast cancer was analyzed for triglycerides; total, high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol; tumor necrosis factor (TNFa); glucose; creatinine; insulin; glucagon; growth hormone; cortisol; and thyrotropin. Patients with stage IV disease had sig-nificantly higher (P <0.05) triglyceride concentrations and significantly lower (P <005) concentrations of total and HDL cholesterol than did patients with less advanced disease or age-matched controls. Furthermore, LDL cho-lesterol concentrations in patients with boney metastases were significantly lower (P <0.05) than concentrations in patients with liver or liver plus boney metastases or in controls. These results could not be attributed to smoking habits, alcohol consumption, or treatment. We observe