Table 4.
Aluminum content in normal areas of the breast according to the clinical characteristics of the women and the pathological features of the surrounding tumors
| Characteristics | Total | Aluminum content in mg/Kg | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |
|
Mean (sd) |
|
Negative* |
0.05 - 2.0 |
≥ 2 |
|
|||
|
Age |
|
|
P** |
n |
(%) |
n |
(%) |
n |
(%) |
P trend*** |
|
<40 |
20 |
1.13(1.59) |
0.17 |
3 |
(14.3) |
15 |
(12.8) |
2 |
(16.7) |
0.91 |
|
>40 |
130 |
1.76(11.90) |
|
18 |
(85.7) |
102 |
(87.2) |
10 |
(83.3) |
|
|
BMI |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<25 |
46 |
3.68(19.9) |
0.38 |
5 |
(33.3) |
36 |
(35.6) |
5 |
(55.6) |
0.40 |
|
≥25 |
79 |
0.78(1.13) |
|
10 |
(66.7) |
65 |
(64.4) |
4 |
(44.4) |
|
|
Menopausal status |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Post |
42 |
4.06(20.88) |
0.12 |
6 |
(35.3) |
33 |
(31.7) |
3 |
(30) |
0.75 |
|
Pre |
89 |
0.73(0.98) |
|
11 |
(64.7) |
71 |
(68.3) |
7 |
(70) |
|
|
Quadrant |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Upper external |
92 |
2.19(14.13) |
0.59 |
15 |
(71.4) |
70 |
(59.8) |
7 |
(58.3) |
0.37 |
|
Other |
58 |
0.87(1.32) |
|
6 |
(28.6) |
47 |
(40.2) |
5 |
(41.7) |
|
|
Tumor size |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<2.0 cm |
72 |
0.78(0.94) |
0.28 |
6 |
(30) |
60 |
(51.7) |
6 |
(50) |
0.16 |
|
≥2.0 cm |
76 |
2.56(15.56) |
|
14 |
(70) |
56 |
(48.3) |
6 |
(50) |
|
|
Stage |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I-II |
90 |
2.19(14.28) |
0.42 |
10 |
(50) |
74 |
(63.8) |
6 |
(50) |
0.75 |
|
III – IV |
58 |
0.92(1.51) |
|
10 |
(50) |
42 |
(36.2) |
6 |
(50) |
|
|
Histologic grade |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I-II |
26 |
0.89(1.30) |
0.53 |
4 |
(21.1) |
20 |
(18.2) |
2 |
(20) |
0.88 |
|
III |
113 |
1.89(12.75) |
|
15 |
(78.9) |
90 |
(81.8) |
8 |
(80) |
|
|
Estrogen receptor |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Negative |
40 |
0.56(0.49) |
0.009 |
2 |
10 |
37 |
33.3 |
1 |
(8.3) |
0.62 |
|
Positive |
103 |
2.18(13.37) |
|
18 |
90 |
74 |
66.7 |
11 |
(91.7) |
|
|
Progesterone receptor |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Negative |
56 |
0.63(0.68) |
0.04 |
4 |
(20) |
49 |
(44.5 |
3 |
(25) |
0.43 |
|
Positive |
86 |
2.46(14.62) |
|
16 |
(80) |
61 |
(55.5) |
9 |
(75) |
|
|
cerbb2 status |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Negative |
94 |
0.82(1.19) |
0.77 |
13 |
(68.4) |
74 |
(67.9) |
7 |
(58.3) |
0.61 |
| Positive | 46 | 3.68(19.96) | 6 | (31.6) | 35 | (32.1) | 5 | (41.7) | ||
Note: The aluminum concentration was categorized as negative, 0.05-2.0 mg/ kg and ≥ 2.0 mg/ kg according to the three-tiered percentile distribution of the raw data. *Aluminum detection threshold for the GF-AAS was set at 0.05 mg/kg; ** In this column, the p values refer to the comparison of the mean Aluminum concentrations in each strata, using independent samples t-tests with the log-transformed (to base e) data; ***In this column, the p-values refer to the Chi-squares for trends; i.e. if p ≤ 0.05, there is a significant trend in Aluminum concentration related to the specified characteristic (see statistics for more details).