Assessment of Serum Pi3k Level as Risk of Breast Carcinogenesis in Women

Abstract

Background: Breast cancer is the leading diagnosed cancer in females and is the major cause of cancer-related mortalities in females global. Although advanced economies have a larger rate of breast cancer than economically poorer countries, breast cancer mortality rates are higher in economically poorer countries. In Ghana, mammography is unavailable in many district hospitals and health centers and when available the cost is prohibitive. This makes breast cancer screening services inaccessible and gives impetus to the search for other potential screening tools and methods. Obesity, a contributing factor to breast cancer development, is increasing in prevalence in Ghana. The phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) protein/protein kinase B (AKT) (PI3K/AKT) pathway, engaged in cell replication and angiogenesis, is common to both obesity-related adipogenesis and breast carcinogenesis. Assessing serum PI3K levels may be helpful for screening the chance of breast cancer occurrence. Aim: This study aimed to investigate serum PI3K concentration as a proxy for obesity induced breast cancer in Ghanaian women Methods: Thirty-two breast cancer patients, age-matched with 32 women without the disease, were enrolled for this study. For each consenting participant, body size and shape measurement, including height, weight (for body mass index), waist-to-hip ratio, breast size, and molecular subtype of breast cancer (for the cases) were recorded. Moreover, each participant provided 5 ml of peripheral blood for collection. PI3K antigen quantification was performed using an ELISA kit on the serum of each participant. Data analysis using IBM SPSS 29 included Mann-Whitney U tests for PI3K levels and Spearman’s correlation for anthropometric measurements. PI3K distributions across cancer subtypes were shown with box plots, and means were compared using one-way ANOVA. Statistical significance was established at a p-value less than 0.05, using a 95% confidence level. Results: Age, BMI, and WHR were significant elements contributing to breast cancer risk, especially in women above 40 years. However, despite these risk factors, serum PI3K levels comparison between breast cancer patients and healthy controls did not reveal a statistically significant difference (p-value = 0.193, nor were there any significant differences in serum PI3K levels among different molecular subtypes of cancer (p-value 0.727) Discussion: This study highlights that while age, BMI, and WHR are crucial elements influencing breast cancer susceptibility, especially in women over 40, serum PI3K levels do not show significant differences between breast cancer patients and healthy controls, nor among different cancer subtypes. Therefore, serum PI3K levels might not be a useful biomarker for breast cancer risk or classification. Conclusion: Though commonly recognized predictors such as age, BMI, and waist-to-hip ratio are important for estimating the likelihood of breast cancer, serum PI3K levels do not appear to be a useful biomarker for differentiating between patients with breast cancer and healthy individuals or for distinguishing between cancer subtypes. Additional studies are required to discover more reliable biomarkers for assessing breast cancer risk and improving disease classification.