Circulating oxidative stress parameters in pre- and post-menopausal healthy women and in women suffering from breast cancer treated or not with neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

We evaluate here the redox status in pre- and post-menopausal healthy women and in women with breast cancer in order to understand the consequences of the hormonal alterations of menopause for the oxidative stress status, its modifications with breast cancer and the influence of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NC). To that, serum oxidative stress parameters (total antioxidant capacity, lipid peroxidation and protein oxidation), non-enzyme antioxidant defenses (total glutathione, uric acid and bilirubin) and enzyme antioxidant defenses (superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase activities) were measured in healthy women and in women with breast cancer divided according to their menopausal status and that received or not NC. Circulating estradiol, progesterone, FSH and LH were also analyzed.