Background: Breast cancer is the first most common malignancy in Egyptian females. Oxidative stress is considered to be involved in
the pathophysiology of all cancers, especially breast cancer. An inappropriately low rate of apoptosis can give rise to cancer.
Objectives: The purpose of this study was to asses, compare and correlate the circulatory levels of some oxidants (malondialdehyde
"MDA" and nitric oxide "NO"), total antioxidant capacity "TAO") and soluble form of Fas "sFas" in some Egyptian females having
breast cancer.
Methods: A cross sectional case/control study conducted on 50 Egyptian females recruited from outpatient clinics or inpatients department of the general surgery at Sohag university hospital, divided into 30 females with malignant breast lesion and 20 healthy females as
a control group. Colorimetric assay of serum levels of NO, MDA and TAO, while, sFas was determined using ELISA method.
Results: There were significant high levels of NO, MDA, TAO and sFas in malignant group than in control group with p-value < 0.0001,
high positive correlation between NO, MDA, TAO and sFas in malignant group ( r= 0.958, 0.807, 0.748 respectively and P< 0.0001 for
all). There was high positive correlation between NO and TAO in malignant group (r = 0.78, P < 0.0001).There was also, high positive
correlation between MDA and TAO in malignant group (r = 0.81, P < 0.0001).
Conclusion: These results support the oxidative stress hypothesis and resistance to apoptosis in development and progression of breast
cancer.