Selenium in serum as a possible parameter for assessment of breast disease.

The level of selenium in blood serum was determined in 33 patients with breast cancer, 13 women with verified mastopathy, and 43 healthy subjects from the Zagreb area. In the second and third quartiles the values of selenium obtained from sick subjects (41-58 micrograms/L) and healthy subjects (73-89 micrograms/L) differed significantly (P less than 0.001). In the group of subjects with mastopathy, serum selenium in the same way ranged from 67-76 micrograms/L and did not differ significantly from the group of healthy women, but differed significantly from the patients with breast cancer (P less than 0.001). Such a result leads to the conclusion that determination of selenium in the blood could be used as a non-invasive diagnostic parameter in clinical assessment of malignant breast disease.