Background
In Egypt, breast cancer (BC) has the highest mortality rate in women in comparison to other types of cancer, where its prevalence is high among all cancer types. Butyric acid has been reported to have an anti-cancer effect. Thus, the present study aims to explore if there is any significant alteration in butyric acid levels in breast cancer patients and their relatives compared to healthy (control) women.

Methodology and results
Twenty women with a history of BC in their families (relatives) and 34 healthy females who acted as a healthy (control) group were included in this research in addition to the 24 females diagnosed with BC (patients). High-performance liquid chromatography was used to assess the level of butyric acid quantitatively using the ion exchange separation method. According to our findings, the mean plasma level of butyric acid in BC patients and women having a family history of BC (relatives) is significantly higher than that in healthy females (control). That may further be used as a biomarker for early screening of BC.
Conclusion
Butyric acid plasma level is a suggested biomarker that may be used in early screening of BC.