Biochemical analysis of breast cyst fluid as a possible predictor of breast carcinoma development.

The occurrence of breast cancer in patients with gross cystic disease is 2-5 times higher as compared to control group of women. During 3 years, 183 cyst fluid samples were analyzed in 129 females, in 30 patients of them the samples were analysed repeatedly. The distribution of the Na+/K+ ratio, considered as the measure of cancer risk, was found to be bimodal.

Complex biochemical analysis of human breast tumor tissue.

The quantitative biochemical analysis of tissue specimens from 76 human breast carcinomas consisted of examination for cytosolic estrogen receptors (cER), nuclear estrogen receptors (nER), progesterone receptors (PgR), 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol receptors (DR), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), alpha-lactalbumin (aLA), and gamma-glutamyl transferase (gGT). The highest incidence was found in CEA (76%), DR (70%), and aLA (62%). There was a high percentage of tumors containing only DR, in contrast to the tumors containing only cER or PgR.

Immunohistochemical localization of alpha-lactalbumin in human breast cancer tissue.

One hundred and eleven formalin-fixed breast cancer tissue samples were examined for the presence of alpha-lactalbumin using our polyclonal antibodies to this specific milk protein. Alpha-lactalbumin was shown to be present in 67 tumor samples (60%), in 15% of cases the occurrence of alpha-lactalbumin was questionable. No relationship was found between alpha-lactalbumin positivity and the histological type of the tumor, differentiation grading, type of invasivity, or stromal reactivity.