Role of Nitric Oxide in Platelets of Breast Carcinoma

Abstract

Breast cancer is a disease of multifactorial origin; it is seen frequently in women of older age, having family history, affluent society, late age of marriage and first childbirth, early menarche, late menopause, and nulliparity. Oxidative stress results when balance between reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and antioxidant defence is lost which result in mutations, sister chromatid exchanges, cytotoxicity, carcinogenesis etc. Clinical, experimental and epidemiological studies suggest that free radicals such as reactive ROS and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) mediate mutagenesis as well as tumorogenesis. Reactive nitrogen species include messenger like nitric oxide, which is small lipophilic molecule which can rapidly diffuse through membrane and can exert diverse functions. In this study nitric oxide was determined in platelets, for this 60 breast cancer patients (before and after treatment) and 30 controls were taken. It has been found that nitric oxide found in platelets of preoperative cases was significantly raised when compared with postoperative cases and normal healthy controls. As it is seen that nitric oxide inhibits platelet aggregation, so it can be said that breast cancer patients are less prone to cardiac vascular complications which includes thrombosis, premature heart disease, myocardial infarcts or strokes, and diabetes. This needs to be studied further as nitric oxide has dual characteristic; it also stimulates metastasis in breast cancer.

 Keywords: Nitric oxide, platelets, breast carcinoma

Cite this Article

Verma P. Role of Nitric Oxide in Platelets of Breast Carcinoma. Research & Reviews: Journal of Oncology and Hematology. 2019; 8(2): 25–29p.