Role of copper, zinc, and selenium in uterine cervical cancer

Full text: The objective of this study was to evaluate the levels of trace elements in blood sera of uterine cervix cancer patients, analyze their alteration with respect to healthy controls, ascertain the role played by them in the initiation, promotion and inhibition of cancer, and identify the best predictors amongst these for disease occurrence and progression. Moreover, the variation of trace elemental content in the sera of cervix cancer patients with the clinical stage of disease and with therapy was also studied. Particle induced X-ray emission (PIXE), a well established method for elemental analysis, was used in this work to identify and quantify trace elements in the blood sera of uterine cervix cancer subjects and healthy control subjects. The PIXE measurements were carried out using 2.5 MeV collimated proton beam from the 3 MV Tandem Pelletron Accelerator at lon Beam Laboratory, Institute of Physics, Bhubaneswar, India. Among all the trace elements identified in this work, statistically significant alterations in serum levels of copper, zinc, and selenium were observed among the various studied groups. The observed alterations are discussed with respect to the possible mechanisms by which these elements might influence the carcinogenic process. (author)