Circulating levels of prolactin in breast cancer patients.
OBJECTIVES In order to assess diagnostic value of prolactin (PRL) in breast cancer (BC), we examined its serum levels and frequencies of its increase in breast cancer patients (BCP), and compared them to those in two controls. We also determined circulating levels of PRL in localised and advanced BC and calculated sensitivity and specificity of PRL in BC. PATIENTS AND METHODS The main experimental group consisted of 47 female patients with histologically confirmed diagnosis of BC. The obtained results were compared to those in two control groups: clinically healthy women, and female patients with other types and locations of cancer. Serum levels of PRL were measured by means of radioimmunoassay. Results were processed by means of t-test and two way analysis of variance. RESULTS The serum levels of PRL before treatment, as well as the frequencies of its increase, were significantly higher in BCP in comparison to controls (p<0.01, 0.02). The average circulating levels of PRL in patients with advanced BC were significantly higher (p<0.0001) in comparison to patients with localised disease. Sensitivity for PRL in BC was 50%, and specificity was 100%. CONCLUSIONS Increased levels of PRL can be detected in the majority of patients with advanced BC. PRL has high specificity for BC, especially for metastatic BC, which leads to its diagnostic and prognostic importance in this disease.