► We compared the body burden of estrogen quinones in Taiwanese women with breast cancer and controls. ► Serum E2-3,4-Q was inversely proportional to BMI among premenopausal women. ► Elevation of ...body burden of E2-3,4-Q may play a role in the development of breast cancer.
Both 17β-estradiol-2,3-quinone (E2-2,3-Q) and 17β-estradiol-3,4-quinone (E2-3,4-Q) are reactive metabolites of estrogen. Elevation of E2-3,4-Q to E2-2,3-Q ratio is thought to be an important indicator of estrogen-induced carcinogenesis. Our current study compared the cumulative body burden of these estrogen quinones in serum samples taken from Taiwanese women with breast cancer (n=152) vs healthy controls (n=75) by using albumin (Alb) adducts as biomarkers. Results clearly demonstrated the presence of cysteinyl adducts of E2-2,3-Q-4-S-Alb and E2-3,4-Q-2-S-Alb in all study population at levels ranging from 61.7–1330 to 66.6–1590pmol/g, respectively. Correlation coefficient between E2-2,3-Q-4-S-Alb and E2-3,4-Q-2-S-Alb was 0.610 for controls and 0.767 for breast cancer patients (p<0.001). We also noticed that in premenopausal subjects with body mass index (BMI) less than 27, background levels of E2-3,4-Q-2-S-Alb was inversely proportional to BMI with about 25% increase in E2-3,4-Q-2-S-Alb per 5kg/m2 decrease in BMI (p<0.001). In addition, we confirmed that mean levels of E2-3,4-Q-2-S-Alb in breast cancer patients were ∼5-fold greater than in those of controls (p<0.001). Overall, this evidence suggests that disparity in estrogen disposition and the subsequent elevation of cumulative body burden of E2-3,4-Q may play a role in the development of breast cancer.
The objective of this research was to simultaneously analyze protein adducts of quinonoid metabolites of naphthalene and endogenous estrogen in serum albumin (Alb) derived from healthy pregnant women ...in Taiwan and to explore the correlations among them. The isomeric forms of cysteinyl adducts of naphthoquinones, including 1,2-naphthoquinone (1,2-NPQ) and 1,4-naphthoquinone (1,4-NPQ) as well as estrogen quinones, including estrogen-2,3-quinones (E
2
-2,3-Q) and estrogen-3,4-quinones (E
2
-3,4-Q), are characterized after adduct cleavage. Results showed that the median levels of cysteinyl adducts of 1,2-NPQ and 1,4-NPQ on serum albumin were 249-390 and 16.0-24.8 pmol g
−1
, respectively. Logged levels of 1,2-NPQ-Alb were correlated with logged levels of 1,4-NPQ-Alb (correlation coefficient r = 0.551, P < 0.001). Cysteinyl adducts of E
2
-2,3-Q-1-S-Alb, E
2
-2,3-Q-4-S-Alb, and E
2
-3,4-Q-2-S-Alb were detected in all subjects with median levels at 275-435, 162-288, and 197-254 pmol g
−1
, respectively. We also found a positive relationship between logged levels of E
2
-2,3-Q-4-S-Alb and those of E
2
-3,4-Q-2-S-Alb (r = 0.770, P < 0.001).We noticed that median levels of E
2
-2,3-Q-derived adducts (E
2
-2,3-Q-1-S-Alb plus E
2
-2,3-Q-4-S-Alb) in pregnant women were greater than those of E
2
-3,4-Q-2-S-Alb (∼2-3-fold). Taken together, this evidence lends further support to the theme that cumulative concentration of E
2
-3,4-Q is a significant predictor of the risk of breast cancer. Furthermore, we noticed that levels of 1,2-NPQ-Alb are positively associated with levels of E
2
-3,4-Q-2-S-Alb (r = 0.522, P < 0.001) and those of E
2
-2,3-Q-4-S-Alb (r = 0.484, P < 0.001). Overall, this evidence suggests that environmental exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons may modulate estrogen homeostasis and enhance the production of reactive quinone species of endogenous estrogen in humans.
A retrospective study of 954 resectable gastric cancers in a single institute of Taiwan from 1971 to 1990 was performed to evaluate improvements in gastric cancer surgery. The patients were divided ...into four time periods representing an overall experience of progressive implementation of aggressive resection and increased extent of systematic lymph node dissection. The clinicopathologic data and survival rates were statistically compared and the significance of the extent of resection on survival analyzed. A significant increase in the proportion of upper one-third tumors (from 14.8% to 20.4%) and a decrease in the incidence of intestinal type (73.6% to 41.5%) was found within the overall period. The proportion of patients with early gastric cancer increased from 11.5% to 19.4%. Patients who underwent total gastrectomy and combined visceral resection increased from 13.7% to 27.4% and 19.8% to 41.1%, respectively. An increase of both total dissected lymph node number and the incidence of detected lymph node metastases in early gastric cancer were associated with more extensive lymphadenectomy. An improved 5-year survival rate following aggressive resection was found for all stages except stage IV and T4 lesions, and the surgical mortality decreased from 5.5% to 2.0%. Patients with earlier stage lesions benefited more from radical resection, especially those with stage II and T2 lesions. Systematic lymph node dissection increased the 5-year survival of patients by about 10% for stage III or T3 lesions but not for patients with stage IV or T4 lesions. Multivariate analysis confirmed the significance of the improved technique of lymphadenectomy on the prognosis of gastric cancer following resection in Taiwan.
PDF