Currently, the urgent task is to search for new biomarkers as a promising tool for early detection and monitoring of breast cancer. The aim of the study was to study the level of cytokines in the saliva of patients with breast cancer. In the case-control study volunteers participated, which were divided into 3 groups: the main (breast cancer, n = 43), the comparison group (fibroadenoma, n = 32) and the control group (conditionally healthy, n = 39). All participants were questioned; biochemical examination of saliva, histological verification of the diagnosis was carried out. Intergroup differences are estimated by a nonparametric criterion. It is shown that in the context of breast cancer, the level of cytokines (IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10 and IL-18) is increasing, except for IL-8, the content of which decreases compared to the control group. When the disease progresses by the nature of the dynamics, the parameters are divided into two groups: IL-2, IL-4, IL-18 and IL-6, IL-8, IL-10. For the first group of cytokines, there was a decrease in content during the transition from the early stages to the more common ones. For the second group, when passing from stages T1-2N0M0 to T1-2NjM0, the level of cytokines remains practically constant. In the future, the level of cytokines is observed for stage T3_4N0_2M0, and for IL-2, IL-4 and IL-10, the level of cytokines reaches values corresponding to early stages, whereas for IL-6, IL-8 and IL-18 in the same direction, a significant increase in indicators was noted. Additionally, the IL-6/IL-8 ratio was calculated depending on the tumor size, as well as the presence / absence of metastasis. It is shown that this ratio is statistically significantly increased in the advanced stages of the disease. Particularly interesting is the increase in this ratio in saliva at the initial stages of the disease.
