Evaluation of Ferritin and Nitric Oxide Levels in Breast Cancer

Breast carcinoma is one of the commonest malignancies in females. It is curable, if detected, at an early stage. Levels of serum ferritin and nitric oxide are found raised in various cancers including breast carcinoma. These parameters are sufficiently interlinked to be used as markers for breast cancer. In this study, the levels of ferritin and nitric oxide were estimated in 30 patients of early stage (stage I and II) and 30 patients of advanced breast cancer (stge III and IV). These levels were compared with 30 healthy females as controls. Serum ferritin and nitric oxide were found to be raised (p0.001) in all breast cancer patients as compared to controls. The rise in their levels was significantly more in advanced stage as compared to early stage carcinoma (p0.001). Treatment had a curative effect on these parameters also as shown by a decrease in their levels in both the groups. Thus, estimation of ferritin and nitric oxide may aid in diagnosis, assessment of severity and monitoring of breast cancer patients though results will be highly reliable in conjunction with other tumor markers