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Changes in the Serum Concentrations of Essential Trace Metals in Patients with Benign and Malignant Breast Cancers

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Abstract

Essential trace metals (ETMs) may play important roles in the pathophysiology of benign and malignant breast cancers. Our study aimed to find associations between ETMs and benign and malignant breast cancers. We recruited 146 patients with benign (n = 73) and malignant (n = 73) breast tumors and 95 healthy controls (HCs) from Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China. The serum concentrations of seven ETMs (Zn, Mn, Cu, Fe, Co, Ni, and Mo) were evaluated using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The serum concentrations of Zn were significantly lower in the malignant group than in the HC group, whereas the concentrations of Cu (p < 0.001) were significantly higher in the malignant group. The concentrations of Fe were significantly lower in both malignant and benign groups than in the HC group (p < 0.05). We observed that the Fe/Cu ratio was lower and the Cu/Ni ratio was higher in the malignant group than in the HCs, as well as in the benign group than in the HCs. The serum concentration of Fe (OR = 0.454; 95% CI, 0.263, 0.784; p = 0.005) was negatively associated with breast tumors after adjusting for potential confounders, including age, BMI, and smoking, drinking and menopause statuses; that of Cu (OR = 2.274; 95% CI, 1.282, 4.031; p = 0.005) was positively associated. Changes in the concentrations of ETMs (Zn, Cu, Fe, and Ni) may be involved in the development of malignant breast cancer. The findings provide foundations for further exploration of ETMs in the prevention and treatment of breast tumors.

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Data Availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Funding

This work was sponsored by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81701067). The supporting foundation had no involvement in study design; the collection, analysis, or interpretation of data; writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the article for publication.

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Author notes

  1. Bing Cao and Yutao Lei contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (SWU), Faculty of Psychology, Ministry of Education, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, People’s Republic of China

    Bing Cao

  2. Department of General Surgery, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, 100191, People’s Republic of China

    Yutao Lei

  3. Department of Ultrasound, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, 100191, People’s Republic of China

    Heng Xue & Ligang Cui

  4. Department of Laboratory Medicine, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, 100191, People’s Republic of China

    Yongming Liang

  5. Department of Laboratorial Science and Technology, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing, 100191, People’s Republic of China

    Yaqiong Liu, Qing Xie & Lailai Yan

  6. Vaccine Research Center, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing, 100191, People’s Republic of China

    Yaqiong Liu, Qing Xie & Lailai Yan

  7. Research Center of Clinical Epidemiology, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, 100191, People’s Republic of China

    Nan Li

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  1. Bing Cao
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Contributions

Li N, Cui LG, and Yan LL conceived and designed the study; Cao B, Liu YQ, Xie Q, and Yan LL collected the data and performed the statistical analysis; Cao B, Xue H, Liang YM, and Li N contributed to the discussion; Yan LL, Lei YT, Li N, and Cui LG revised the paper. All authors have read and approved the final version of this article.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nan Li.

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Ethics Approval

The study protocol was reviewed and approved by the research ethics committee of the Peking University Third Hospital in Beijing, China (IRB-2018–413-02).

Consent to Participate

All subjects enrolled in this study were from this hospital and provided written informed consent prior to their inclusion.

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All authors agreed to the publication of this manuscript.

Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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Cao, B., Lei, Y., Xue, H. et al. Changes in the Serum Concentrations of Essential Trace Metals in Patients with Benign and Malignant Breast Cancers. Biol Trace Elem Res 200, 3537–3544 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-021-02964-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-021-02964-z

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