Significance of Copper, Zinc, Selenium and Fluoride in Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Cervix- A Pilot Study

摘要

Cervical cancer is one of the common cancers in females especially in developing countries. HPV 16 and 18 are responsible for 90% of cervical cancers. Some trace elements like Copper, Zinc, Selenium and Fluoride also has role in pathogenesis in cervical cancer.Aim: To study the association of plasma copper, zinc, selenium and fluoride in squamous cell carcinoma of cervix.Materials and Methods: This was a case control study conducted in a tertiary health care centre at Kolar, Karnataka, India. Thirteen each of cases and controls were considered for the study. Six mL of venous blood was collected in Heparin tubes. Plasma was separated. Plasma copper and zinc was estimated by colorimetric method. Plasma selenium was estimated by inductively coupled plasma?mass spectrometry. Plasma fluoride was estimated by Ion Selective Electrode. Data was analysed using SPSS version 22 and was analysed as mean, and standard deviation. Using student?s t-test, p-value <0.05 was considered as statistically significant.Results: Plasma copper was 118±49.9 μg/dL in cases and 100±23.2 μg/dL in controls with p-value of 0.25. Plasma zinc levels were 58.4±11.7 μg/dL in cases and 65.4±31.9 μg/dL in controls with p-value of 0.46. Cu/Zn ratio was 2.1±1.08 μg/dL in cases and 1.8±0.88 μg/dL in controls with p-value of 0.42. Plasma selenium was 0.36±0.05 μg/dL in cases and 0.40±0.11 μg/dL in controls with p-value of 0.21. Plasma fluoride was 0.30±0.05 mg/L in cases and 0.24±0.02 mg/L in controls with p-value of 0.02.Conclusion: Plasma copper, copper to zinc ratio and fluoride was increased in cases while plasma zinc and selenium was decreased. However it was not statistically significant except for fluoride levels.