Prognostic Importance of Thromboxane in Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is a major cause of death by cancer worldwide. It is a systemic disease and may recur decades after it has been initially diagnosed (1). It is associated with a high risk of metastasis (2). There is no doubt that breast tumours synthesize high levels of eicosanoids as compared to the normal tissue (3–6). Whether this increased synthesis occurs in response to certain physiological stimuli or in response to intracellular mediators unique to malignant cells or it is contributed by the non-tumerous surrounding cells resident in the tumour tissue in response to the mediators released by malignant cells, is still unknown. Honn et al (7,8) suggested that primary tumours or detached tumour cells may cause the disruption of systemic balance between prostacyclin (PGI2) and thromboxane (TXA2) in favour of TXA2. However, we did not find any alteration in the ratio of TXA2:PGl2 in plasma of patients with malignant or benign tumour of the breast (9). Nevertheless, the levels of PGI2 and TXA2 in plasma of breast cancer patients were significantly higher than in benign patients. Also, surgical removal of the primary tumour showed no decrease in levels of prostanoids in breast cancer patients (9) .