Bone Profiling Breast Cancer Patients at Parirenyatwa Radiotherapy Clinic, Zimbabwe
[1]
Pride Chasara, Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, University of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe.
[2]
Tawanda Jonathan Chisango, Department of Biotechnology, Chinhoyi University of Technology, Chinhoyi, Zimbabwe.
[3]
Danai Tavonga Zhou, Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, University of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe.
Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of death in women in Zimbabwe and it accounts for more than 400 000 deaths per year worldwide. Disturbances in bone mineral metabolism often accompany cancerous conditions yet few bone profile studies have been performed on breast cancer patients in Zimbabwe. The purpose of this study was to determine bone profiles in breast cancer patients at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals, Harare, Zimbabwe. Serum bone profile is a group of tests used in the investigation of potential disorders, screening and in monitoring disorders of bone metabolism. A cross-sectional study of 54 breast cancer patients was carried out and serum samples were analysed for calcium, phosphate, magnesium, albumin and alkaline phosphatase using colorimetric and enzymatic methods. Of the 54 patients enrolled, 2 were males (3.7%), 52 were females (96.3%). The mean age of the participants was 51.8 (11.6) years. The highest frequency of breast cancer cases was found in the 51-60 year age group. There was no significant difference in the frequency of breast cancer in pre- and post-menopausal women (p=0.22). Mean calcium and magnesium levels were below normal whilst phosphate and alkaline phosphatase were normal. Approximately 30.8% of patients presented with low albumin levels. The low levels of calcium and magnesium could be an indication of general poor health due to cancer whilst low albumin levels in a proportion of patients could be due to poor diet or inflammation. This suggests that bone profiles could be a simple tool for assessing prognosis in breast cancer patients, though further research is needed in our setting.
Breast Cancer, Bone Profiles, Calcium, Magnesium, Phosphate, Zimbabwe
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