LIPID-SOLUBLE ANTIOXIDANTS - BETA-CAROTENE AND ALPHA-TOCOPHEROL LEVELS IN BREAST AND GYNECOLOGIC CANCERS

Free radical-induced damage is etiologically implicated in many chroni c diseases including cancer. Epidemiologic data suggest an association between increased dietary intake of nutrients that are high in antiox idant vitamins and protection against the incidence of some human canc ers. The purpose of this study was (a) to determine whether specific t issue antioxidants (beta-carotene and alpha-tocopherol) and any differ ences in their levels were measurable in randomly selected human breas t and gynecologic malignant neoplasms and nonneoplastic tissue samples obtained from the same patient and (b) to establish normal ranges of these two antioxidant levels in human female reproductive tract tissue s. Tissue samples were excised immediately from surgical specimens and released by staff pathologists from a spectrum of human female cancer s. Neoplastic and adjacent nonneoplastic tissues samples were obtained from the same patient. Normal reproductive tract tissue samples were obtained from women undergoing hysterectomy for benign gynecologic con ditions. Breast carcinoma and adjacent nonmalignant tissue specimens w ere obtained from women undergoing mastectomy. The concentrations of b eta-carotene and alpha-tocopherol were measured by high-pressure liqui d chromatography. In the same patient, beta-carotene levels were signi ficantly lower in the cervical (P < 0.01) and endometrial (P < 0.005) carcinoma tissues than the levels detectable in adjacent nonneoplastic sites. In contrast, beta-carotene levels were higher in the ovarian ( P < 0.05), breast (P < 0.005), and vulva (P < 0.05) carcinoma tissues. The alpha-tocopherol concentrations were significantly higher in the cancer tissues of cervix (P < 0.01) and endometrium (P < 0.001) than t hose in adjacent noninvolved tissue sites. The tissue concentrations o f alpha-tocopherol in malignant and adjacent normal sites in breast, o vary, and vulva were comparable. For the first time, the ranges for be ta-carotene and alpha-tocopherol levels in the normal female reproduct ive tract tissues were also established. The present findings of contr asting tissue levels of the antioxidants (beta-carotene and alpha-toco pherol) in breast, cervix, endometrium, ovary, and vulva cancers and i n nonneoplastic tissues of the same patient suggest an organ-specific and heterogenous distribution. These antioxidants appear to be essenti al nutritional requirements of the human female reproductive tract and breast and are implicated in the pathophysiology and carcinogenesis o f these human organs. The findings require further study of the role o f these antioxidant nutrients in epithelial cell proliferation, matura tion, and differentiation. (C) 1994 Academic Press, Inc.