LIPIDS STATUS IN HUMAN BREAST CYST FLUIDS

Benign mammary gross cystic disease is the most common breast lesion; women with apocrine changes of epithelium lining the cysts are at high er risk for developing breast cancer than the normal population, Total cholesterol, high- and low-density lipoproteins fractions, triglyceri des and phospholipids, lipase activity and total lipid concentrations were measured in cyst fluids and sera from 89 women affected by gross cystic breast disease. Total cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein content were significantly (P < 0.001) greater in pooled cyst fluids t han normal sera. Moreover, data analyses show a significant increase i n the mean values of total lipids and lipase activity in metabolically active apocrine cysts, when compared to the flattened cysts (P < 0.00 1), The lipids feature of apocrine cysts could represent an altered ex pression of biosynthetic activity of the surrounding apocrine cell sur face glycolipid and steroidogenic metabolism and may provide further k nowledge about the functional stage changes of gross breast cysts.