Salivary sIgA concentrations and stimulated whole saliva flow rates among women undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer: an exploratory study.

A study was conducted to evaluate the secretion of stimulated whole saliva (SWS) and secretory IgA (sIgA) among three groups of women. One group was a healthy control group, the second group consisted of women diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer before being placed on chemotherapy, while the third group consisted of women on chemotherapy taking CMF (cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and fluorouracil) for at least one month. There were seven patients in each group. SWS was collected. Salivary sIgA concentrations were determined by enzyme-linked immunoabsorbant assay. The results of the study showed that the mean SWS flow rate for the chemotherapy group (x = 0.96 mL/min) was significantly lower (p > 0.03) than that of the control group (x = 2.33 mL/min) and lower than that of the group with cancer (x = 1.81 mL/min). Additionally, the results showed that the mean sIgA concentrations for the chemotherapy group (x = 10.9 ng/mg of protein) were slightly lower than those of the control group (x = 13.7 ng/mg of protein) and lower than those of the group with cancer (x = 12.6 ng/mg of protein). The results of this study suggest that women placed on CMF for treatment of carcinoma of the breast may have reduced stimulated salivary production.