Research article breast cancer in nigerian women: Evaluating the utility of circulating immune complexes and cancer antigens (CA 15-3 and CA 27.29) in disease surveillance

Abstract

Background and Objective: Background breast cancer remains an important medical challenge, despite sustained global efforts at its prevention and control. Various factors are expressed in the serum during breast tumorigenesis and can be of value in the surveillance of the disease. Breast cancer can be affected by racial/ethnic, environmental and other variables. In our locality, there is scanty information on the value of these serum factors in screening and surveillance of breast cancer-hence the need for this study. Methodology: A total of 89 treatment naïve females (age 29-65 years), with clinically and pathologically confirmed breast tumour were recruited, along with apparently healthy control (N = 21) subjects. Patients with malignant tumour were further grouped into early stage and advanced stage. Serum from patients and controls were investigated for cancer antigens (CA 15-3, CA 27.29) and circulating immune complexes (CIC). The patients were subsequently subjected to standard treatment modalities. Follow-up investigations for the markers were carried out at intervals after treatment. Assays for serum the immunological factors were by immunoenzymatic methods. Results: Tumour of all forms recorded significantly higher pre-treatment mean values for CA 15-3 and CA 27.29, compared with the control group (p<0.05). Therapeutic interventions significantly reduced the values for CA 15-3 and CA 27.29 (p<0.05) but had no consistent effect on the level of CIC. The correlative significance between CIC and cancer antigens is weak. Conclusion: Tumour markers CA 15-3 and CA 27.29 showed promising diagnostic and prognostic potentials, while CIC appears to be of limited utility in the management of breast cancer in our environment.