Background: The immune marker neopterin may have a prognostic role in different cancers including breast cancer.
Aim: To assess the relation between pre-chemotherapy serum level of neopterin and the clinical and pathological features of breast cancer patients.
Methods:Sixty-three patients with histologically confirmed breast cancer and 20 healthy females matched for age and sex as controls were included. All patients were subjected to full history taking, thorough medical examination and complete investigation. Venous blood samples were collected from all participants to measure serum neopterin level. Serum neopterin level more than 10 nMol\L was considered elevated.
Results: The mean serum neopterin level among patients was 8 ± 7.43. Twenty-two patients (34.9%) had elevated serum neopterin level. Neopterin was found to be significantly elevated in patients with advanced stages and grade III tumors. Metastatic disease was associated with significantly higher levels of neopterin (p = 0.04). There was no significant association between high neopterin level and mean time to progression or overall survival.
Conclusion:Among breast cancer patients, the immune marker neopterin was significantly related to metastatic disease and it could be considered a potential marker for systemic spread of the tumor.