Abstract

Enas H. Hameed* Sura Z. Hussein and Nazar A. N. Abed

ABSTRACT

Cancer is a group of diseases that cause cells in the body to change and grow out of control. Most types of cancer cells eventually form a lump or mass called a tumor. Breast cancer is the second most common prevalent and diagnosed cancer that affects women and the leading causes of cancer death and disability Over 30% of all new cancer cases in women are breast cancer worldwide. A aromatase, a catalyzes the conversion of androgens to estrogens in many human tissue sites. The biosynthesis of estrogen plays a principal role in neoplastic formation, especially in women health. For breast cancer, aromatase activity and its inhibition have become a focus of treatment historically. Also, current pharmaceutical agents classified as aromatase inhibitors characterize the importance of this enzyme in steroid biosynthesis due to the potent impact of the estrogen product. Serum samples were collected from 140 women, 50 of these women were control and 90 women were breast cancer patients attending to cancer center in Erbil city from January 2017 to August 2017.Study populations classified into three groups which age ranged from (29-65) years, total subjects, pre and postmenopausal women. The results showed a highly significant decrease (P?0.01) in aromatase activity in total and (pre and postmenopausal) breast cancer patients compared to healthy control. Decreaced level of aromatase is more common in metastatic breast cancer patients compare to healthy control group.