Associations between serum uric acid and breast cancer incidence: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Serum uric acid (SUA) may be involved in the development of cancer by inhibiting oxidative stress, but its relationship with breast cancer remains unclear.

Materials and methods: The PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science databases were searched systematically for studies on SUA levels in women with breast cancer and the effect of SUA levels on the risk of breast cancer. The Newcastle‒Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale (NOS) was used to assess the quality of all relevant studies included.

Results: A total of 19 studies were included, including 75,827 women with breast cancer and 508,528 healthy controls. A meta-analysis found that SUA levels were negatively correlated with breast cancer risk in women (HR = 0.94, 95% CI: 0.89 - 0.99, p = 0.003). SUA levels in female breast cancer patients were not significantly different from those in healthy controls (SMD = 0.49, 95% CI = -0.09 - 1.08, p = 0.10), while SUA levels were increased in female breast cancer patients in articles published after 2010, SUA concentration detected by spectrophotometry, and non-Asian populations, regardless of menopausal state and treatment state.

Conclusion: High levels of SUA may reduce the risk of breast cancer in women, suggesting that SUA was a protective factor in women.