The urinary concentrations of 16
estrogens and 11
polyamines were quantitatively determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and gas chromatography with
nitrogen-
phosphorus detection. Samples from patients with stages I-IV of
breast cancer (35 cases, aged 27-65 years) as well as from age-matched normal female subjects (25 cases, aged 22-61 years) were tested. Also, the ratios of precursor to product metabolite including 16alpha-OH E1 to 2-OH E1, which are linked to
estrogen and
polyamine biosynthetic pathways, were determined to explore
enzyme involvement in
breast cancer and to evaluate the potential usefulness of these ratios and concentrations as disease staging markers. It was confirmed that major
estrogens and 16a-OH E1 were positively associated with
breast cancer and
catechol estrogens including 2-OH E1 were inversely associated with
breast cancer. The ratios of N1-acSp/Spd and 16alpha-OH E1/2-
OH E1 might be a useful dual marker for staging of
breast cancer. From the variation of the relative ratios of
polyamines, it is suggested that alteration in
polyamine oxidase (PAO) activity may play an important role in the development of
breast cancer.