Nutrients (Mar 2024)

Serum Levels of Copper and Zinc and Survival in Breast Cancer Patients

  • Marek Szwiec,
  • Wojciech Marciniak,
  • Róża Derkacz,
  • Tomasz Huzarski,
  • Jacek Gronwald,
  • Cezary Cybulski,
  • Tadeusz Dębniak,
  • Anna Jakubowska,
  • Marcin R. Lener,
  • Michał Falco,
  • Józef Kładny,
  • Piotr Baszuk,
  • Joanne Kotsopoulos,
  • Steven A. Narod,
  • Jan Lubiński

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/nu16071000
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 16, no. 7
p. 1000

Abstract

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There is emerging interest in the relationship between several serum micronutrients and the prognosis of patients with breast cancer. The relationship between serum zinc and copper levels and breast cancer prognosis is unclear. In our study, we included 583 patients with breast cancer diagnosed between 2008 and 2015 in the region of Szczecin, Poland. In a blood sample obtained before treatment, serum zinc and copper levels were quantified by mass spectroscopy. Each patient was assigned to one of four categories (quartiles) based on the distribution of the elements in the entire cohort. Patients were followed from diagnosis to death over a mean of 10.0 years. The 10-year overall survival was 58.3% for women in the highest and 82.1% for those in the lowest quartile of serum copper/zinc ratio (p p = 0.01) for patients in the highest quartile of serum copper/zinc ratio compared to those in the lowest. There is evidence that the serum zinc level and copper/zinc ratio provide an independent predictive value for overall survival and breast cancer-specific survival after breast cancer diagnosis.

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