Putative relationship between hormonal status and serum pyrrolidone carboxypeptidase activity in pre- and post- menopausal women with breast cancer

Abstract

In breast cancer, hormonal changes are rather constant in post-menopausal women since they tend to vary only over long time spans. However, in pre-menopausal women, the development of breast cancer is associated with hormonal physiological variations. The aim of the present work was to analyse the changes in circulating levels of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) in pre- and post-menopausal women that were healthy or with breast cancer, and their connection to serum pyrrolidone carboxypeptidase (Pcp) activity. We observed significant changes in the hormonal profile in post-menopausal women with breast cancer compared to the control group. In pre-menopausal women, we found significant changes in circulating GnRH levels with respect to the healthy group. Our present results support the existence of neuroendocrine misregulation that could be involved in tumour progression, with Pcp being a potentially new pharmacological target in breast cancer treatments.