Inflammatory Markers in Breast Cancer: A Tertiary Centre Experience
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Abstract
Introduction: Chronic inflammation has shown to have a recognized part in carcinogenesis, influencing tumor initiation, development, and prognosis. In breast carcinoma, systemic inflammatory markers such as C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and interleukin-8 (IL-8) have been investigated as potential indicators of disease behaviour. This study was intended to evaluate the relationship between these inflammatory markers and key clinicopathological parameters in breast carcinoma patients. Methods: This study was undertaken at the Pathology department, Government Medical College, Jammu, between August 2023 and July 2024. Serum CRP and IL-6 levels were measured using spectrophotometry and chemiluminescence assays, respectively, while enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to quantify TNF-alpha and interleukin-8. This study aimed to assess the levels of CRP, IL-8, IL-6, and TNF-α in patients with breast carcinoma and to examine their associations with key histopathological parameters. Results: 56 cases of breast carcinoma were included. The mean age of the patients was 51.15 ± 8.23 years. Elevated levels of CRP, IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-α were observed in 58.2%, 89.1%, 61.8%, and 89.1% of cases, respectively. CRP showed significant associations with lymph node status (p = 0.005), tumor stage (p = 0.002), tumor grade (p = 0.001), lymphovascular invasion (p = 0.001), ER/PR status (p < 0.001), and HER2neu expression (p = 0.003). No significant associations were observed between IL-6, IL-8, or TNF-α and most clinicopathological variables. Conclusion: Elevated CRP levels demonstrated strong correlations with adverse pathological features in breast carcinoma, proposing its potential as a cost-effective prognostic marker in routine clinical practice. Further prospective studies on a large scale are necessary to corroborate these findings and explore therapeutic interventions targeting inflammatory pathways.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Zainab Hashim, Saniya Nisar, Rabiya Rasheed, Rajat Gupta, Subhash Bharadwaj
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