Objective: The present investigation was taken up to evaluate the 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine and malondialdehyde as markers of oxidative stress, the levels of antioxidants and the correlations between these oxidative stress markers and antioxidants in lung cancer patients.
Methods: The study included 222 patients (158 men and 64 women, age ranging from 32 to 85 years) and 207 control subjects (153 men and 54 women, aged 30-80 years) for the analysis of urinary excretion of 8-oxodG using an ELISA assay, plasma malondialdehyde using spectrophotometer and red cell Cu-Zn SOD and GPx activities by kit methods.
Results: The levels of 8-oxodG and malondialdehyde were significantly higher (p < 0.001) and red cell superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase activities (p < 0.001) were significantly lower in lung cancer patients than in controls. There was a significantly positive correlation between 8-oxodG and malondialdehyde (r=0.912, p < 0.001) and a negative correlation between 8-oxodG and antioxidants.
Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that an increased rate of oxidative stress might play a role in the pathogenesis of lung cancer as evidenced by a failure in the oxidant/antioxidant balance in favour of lipid peroxidation and DNA damage.