Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in women worldwide. The aim of this study was to
determine the value of post-therapy serum LDH in assessing response at the completion of chemotherapy in
breast cancer patients. This was a prospective cross-sectional study with data collection from May 2019 to
November 2020, at the University Hospital of Bogodogo and at the SANDOF Polyclinic. We performed the
LDH assay on serum from patients at the end of breast cancer chemotherapy who were at least 18 years old.
Thirty (30) patients were included, with a mean age of 47.47 ± 2.10 years. Based on RECIST criteria, 46.67%
had a successful response to chemotherapy, while 53.33% had a poor response. The mean post-therapy serum
LDH was 256.15±25.99 U/L and 46.67% of patients had elevated serum LDH. Mean serum LDH was
significantly higher in patients with a personal history of breast cancer (p=0.0198), increased CA 15-3
(p=0.0489) and poor response to chemotherapy (p=0.0291). Serum LDH was significantly higher in patients
with a poor response to chemotherapy. Further studies are required to establish a more reliable correlation
between serum LDH levels and response to breast cancer chemotherapy.

Lactate dehydrogenase, LDH, breast cancer, chemotherapy, treatment response, post-therapy