Lipid peroxidation and antioxidant status in cancer patients: implications in carcinogenesis.

Abstract

Normal consequence of several biochemical reactions in our body is production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) whose deleterious effects are well balanced by our endogenous antioxidant defense system. However, disruption of this balance leads to overwhelming free radical generation which has been known to be linked with carcinogenesis. This study aims to investigate the level of lipid peroxidation which is indicative of free radical mediated oxidative damage to biological macromolecules and also antioxidant status of the cancer patients (oral, breast and cervical, N=52) compared to healthy subjects(N=48). Hence malondialdehyde(MDA) has been measured as a marker of lipid peroxidation along with estimation of antioxidant enzymes activity like superoxide dismutase(SOD), catalase(CAT), vitamin C, vitamin E, albumin. Significant increase in level of MDA has been observed in cancer group with decrease in antioxidant level. Thus, it can be concluded that antioxidant supplementation can be beneficial to compensate for the impaired antioxidant system, both enzymatic and non-enzymatic, in cancer patients after particular stage of cancer progression has been diagnosed.