Alkaline Phosphatase as a Biomarker for Metastatic Breast Cancer

Abstract

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in women worldwide and the leading type of cancer among Iraqi women with a rapidly rising incidence. Different breast cancers have different prognoses and treatment requirements, therefore, staging allowed reliable distinction between those differences. Early detection is essential for its cure. However, most cancers produce symptoms after the tumor is too large for surgical removal or after metastasis. This necessitates the need for non-invasive and sensitive methods for early detection. Changes in serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) level may be useful in the diagnosis and follow up of breast cancer. The aim of the study is to assess the relationship between increased serum ALP level and the occurrence of metastasis in breast cancer patients, and to assess the possibility to use this enzyme as a biomarker for the detection of metastasis in breast cancer. This study is a case-control study conducted from December 2017 through April 2018 and included 140 patients with breast cancer. 70 of them had metastasis (cases) and 70 had no metastasis (controls). Blood samples were collected to determine serum ALP level. Statistical analysis has shown that there is statistically significant difference in the ALP level for cases with metastasis (M = 320.5, SD = 254.9) and controls (M = 85.1, SD = 34.9) who have no metastasis; t (138) = 7.65, and p < 0.001. Serum ALP level is an important diagnostic tool for monitoring of progression of breast cancer, and it could be used as a biomarker for detection of metastasis in breast cancer patients.