P-25 Clinicopathological characteristics of primary breast cancer among women: a descriptive study

Methods: A longitudinal descriptive study was conducted among 43 women newly diagnosed with primary breast cancer following written informed consent. Diagnoses were histopathologically confirmed, including immunohistochemical subtyping, and participants were eligible within three months of diagnosis. Venous blood samples (10 mL) were collected prior to treatment and during follow-up visits after curative therapy. Samples were processed within three hours and stored at 2–8°C or −20°C as required. Serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), cancer antigen 15-3 (CA 15-3), cancer antigen 27.29 (CA 27.29), and cytokeratin fragment 21-1 (CYFRA 21-1) were measured using electrochemiluminescent immunoassays (Elecsys, Roche Diagnostics), and circulating cell-free DNA was analyzed by polymerase chain reaction. Biomarkers were measured across four visits per participant, and descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation, and standard error) were used to characterize distributions at each visit.

Results: Across repeated measurements (N=43), tumor markers and hormonal biomarkers demonstrated wide distributions relative to reference ranges. Mean CA 15-3 (40.53– 84.47 U/mL), CEA (10.03–55.93 ng/mL), and CYFRA 21-1 (1.51–4.72 ng/mL) concentrations consistently exceeded upper reference limits, while CA-125 means ranged from within to above the reference range (14.67–84.04 U/mL). Mean luteinizing hormone (30.35–34.23 U/L) and follicle-stimulating hormone (53.71–61.23 U/L) levels were elevated across measurements, whereas mean progesterone concentrations (0.055–0.998 ng/mL) remained within the postmenopausal reference range. Large standard deviations indicated substantial variability across visits.

Conclusion: Serial biomarker profiling revealed marked heterogeneity in tumor markers and hormonal parameters among women with primary breast cancer, underscoring the value of longitudinal descriptive assessment in capturing clinicopathological diversity.