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Basal levels of DNA damage detected by micronuclei and comet assays in untreated breast cancer patients and healthy women

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Abstract

Breast cancer is the second most frequent type of cancer worldwide and is the most common malignant disease among women. Risk factors for breast cancer include early menarche, late menopause, hormonal therapies, exposure to environmental pollutants, smoking and alcohol use. However, increased or prolonged exposure to estrogen is the most important risk factor. It has been suggested that accumulation of DNA damage may contribute to breast carcinogenesis. Epidemiological studies suggest that cytogenetic biomarkers such as micronuclei in peripheral blood lymphocytes may predict cancer risk because they indicate genomic instability in target tissues. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the frequencies of micronuclei and the extent of DNA damage detected by comet assay in peripheral blood lymphocytes of untreated breast cancer patients and healthy women. The study was conducted using peripheral blood lymphocytes from 45 women diagnosed for Ductal “in situ” or invasive breast carcinoma and 85 healthy control women. Micronuclei and comet assays were performed to detect spontaneous DNA damage. The results showed that micronuclei frequencies and tail intensity, detected by comet assay, were significantly higher in the breast cancer group than in controls. The levels of DNA damage were similar in smokers and non-smokers, and aging did not influence the frequencies of micronuclei or tail intensity values observed in either group. In conclusion, the present work demonstrates higher levels of DNA damage in untreated breast cancer patients than in healthy women.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the cooperation of all volunteers who participated in this study. This investigation was supported in part by the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico-CNPq (grant no 400887/2005 and 3473493/2004-7) and Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior-CAPES for fellowship to Dr RA Santos and Dr MB Mayorano.

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest related to the publication of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Genetics, Faculty of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Bloco G. Av. Bandeirantes, Ribeirão Preto, SP, 3900, Brazil

    Raquel A. Santos, Ana Cláudia Teixeira, Monica B. Mayorano & Catarina S. Takahashi

  2. Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Faculty of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Hélio H. A. Carrara & Jurandyr M. Andrade

  3. Department of Biology, Faculty of Philosophy, Sciences and Letters of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Catarina S. Takahashi

Authors
  1. Raquel A. Santos
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  2. Ana Cláudia Teixeira
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  3. Monica B. Mayorano
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  4. Hélio H. A. Carrara
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  5. Jurandyr M. Andrade
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  6. Catarina S. Takahashi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Raquel A. Santos.

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Santos, R.A., Teixeira, A.C., Mayorano, M.B. et al. Basal levels of DNA damage detected by micronuclei and comet assays in untreated breast cancer patients and healthy women. Clin Exp Med 10, 87–92 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10238-009-0079-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10238-009-0079-4

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