Klin Onkol 1995; 8(02): 49-51.
Summary: Premenopausal women operated for breast cancer during the luteal phase of menstrual cycle are probably in lower risk of relapsing and posses survival advantage against women operated during the folicular phase. In the literature this relationship has been found significant only in node positive subgroup, but the reasons remain unclear. The changing role of growth factors, activity of NK cells and/or macrophages and cellular adhesivity may be among the hypothetic causative factors. In this study we compared the quantitative estimation of steroid receptors and DNA flow cytometric analysis of DNA ploidy and proliferative activity of tumor between 19 women operated in luteal and 19 in folicular phases of menstrual cycle. We found no statistically significant differences between those two groups in analyzed parameters. Proliferative activity and steroid receptors within the breast cancer are probably unrelated to effect of timing of breast cancer surgery on therapeutic results. Unless the causative mechanism is resolved the premenopausal women should be operated for breast cancer rather in the luteal phase of menstrual cycle than in folicular one as suggested from several published data.
