The antioxidative role of selenium in pathogenesis of cancer of the female reproductive system

• Published in: Neoplasma Vol. 54; no. 5; p. 374
• Main Authors: Piekutowski, K, Makarewicz, R, Zachara, B A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Slovakia 2007
• Subjects: Adult; Antioxidants - pharmacology; Female; Genital Neoplasms, Female - blood; Genital Neoplasms, Female - pathology; Genital Neoplasms, Female - physiopathology; Humans; Middle Aged; Reactive Oxygen Species - metabolism; Reference Values; Selenium - pharmacology
• ISSN: 0028-2685

Selenium, as a component of few antioxidant enzymes, participates indirectly in elimination of reactive oxygen species and in antioxidative defense of the organism. There is a correlation between the concentration of selenium, activity of glutathione peroxidases (GSH-Px), and other parameters of antioxidative defense in blood components. The above mentioned factors were suggested to play an important role in etiopathogenesis of neoplastic diseases. Therefore, the aim of our present study was to compare the selenium status and GSH-Px activity in the plasma of 22 healthy women, 50 individuals suffering from cancer of uterine cervix, uterine corpus or ovary, and 49 women diagnosed with benign neoplasia of the uterine corpus or ovary. In addition, the selenium concentration was measured in postoperative cancer tissues, benign tumors, and histopatologically healthy surgical margins of the aforementioned patients. An average selenium concentration and GSH-Px activity in blood plasma of cancer patients and benign neoplasia patients was significantly lower than in the plasma of healthy women. It suggests that lower overall selenium status and lower selenium-dependent antioxidative capacity of the organism might partly contribute to development of neoplastic diseases of reproductive system. Postoperative tissues of patients revealed significantly higher selenium concentrations in cancer tissues of uterine cervix and corpus, and benign tumors of uterine corpus, as compared to corresponding healthy tissue margins. Higher accumulation of selenium in these neoplastic tissues might reflect a compensatory up-regulation of antioxidant defense systems in tumors that often undergo a persistent oxidative stress.