FINGER PAPILLARY TRAITS IN BULGARIAN FEMALE BREAST CANCER PATIENTS

Abstract

Purpose: The objective of the present investigation was to juxtapose some qualitative dermatoglyphic characteristics of finger papillary patterns between breast cancer patients and healthy control females. Material/Methods: In 2014-2017, several qualitative fingerprint papillary traits such as loops, arches and whorls were examined in 82 females with breast cancer and 60 healthy women from the region of Varna using the classical dermatoglyphic method of Cummins & Midlo. Results: There was a coincidence of the mean values of homologous finger papillary traits between breast cancer patients and healthy controls. There were statistically significant differences between breast cancer patients and healthy controls in terms of the sum frequencies of left thumb, left and right index finger papillary traits, the frequencies of arches ulnar loops and whorls of the left index finger, the frequencies of arches of the left ring and left little finger, of the whorls of the right index, middle and little fingers, the total frequencies of left and right finger papillary traits as well as the total frequency of the finger papillary traits of the left and right hand and both hands. Conclusion: These statistically significant differences between breast cancer patients and healthy females in terms of the mean values of fingerprint papillary traits of all the five homologous fingers, of total frequencies of these traits of the first and second left-hand finger as well as of the second, third and fifth right-hand finger could contribute to the enrichment of the screening and prognostic dermatoglyphic armamentarium in the field of breast cancer.

Keywords

• breast cancer
• dermatoglyphics
• fingerprints
• loops
• whorls
• arches