Is Aspartate Aminotransferase to Alanine Aminotransferase (De Ritis Ratio) Helpful in Predicting Breast Cancer?

Aim: De Ritis ratio (aspartate transaminase/alanine transaminase) may be a useful prognostic biomarker for certain malignant tumors. However, the predictive value of the De Ritis ratio before treatment in preoperative staging in patients with breast cancer is unknown. This study aimed to evaluate the De Ritis ratio in benign and malignant breast diseases and investigate the predictive value of it for breast cancer. Methods: Retrospective analysis was made of the clinicopathological data of 301 patients with benign breast disease and breast cancer treated between April 2017 and April 2020 in a single center. 64 Patients were excluded from the study due to chronic illness or incomplete data. The relationship between the De Ritis ratio and clinicopathological findings before treatment was evaluated in patients. The Mann Whitney U test and Kruskal Wallis test were used in the comparisons between groups. Results: Of the total 237 patients, the number of patients with benign breast disease was 96 and the number of the patients with breast cancer was 141. No statistically significant results were determined between the benign breast disease and breast cancer groups, in respect of pre-treatment evaluation of the De Ritis ratio and as a predictive factor for preoperative staging in molecular subtyping, tumor diameter, lymph node metastasis, and Ki 67 index. Conclusion: It was concluded that the De Ritis ratio examined before treatment was not an independent predictive factor in breast cancer diagnosis and staging.