Search

Background: The phosphatidylinositol 3-kinases are known as a family of lipid kinases, playing a role in various cellular processes. A member of this family is PIK3CA which is frequently mutated in breast cancer. In this study, the association between H1047R, E542K and E545K mutations, and therapy resistance was investigated in Iranian breast cancer patients treated by Trastuzumab. Methods: Resistance and sensitive groups were chosen from Iranian patients treated by Trastuzumab. A PCR-RFLP approach was designed for detecting the H1047R mutation. Mutations in positions of codons E542K and E545K were detected using PCR-based DNA Sanger sequencing assay. The overall survival and disease-free survival were assessed. Results: A significant relationship was observed between the presence and absence of H1047R mutation and the overall survival (P = 0.025). In addition, there was a significant relationship between the response to Trastuzumab and some clinicopathological features, including the age and the status of ER/PR receptors (Pvalue< 0.05). E542K and E545K mutations were not observed in the patients. Conclusion: It can be said that probably H1047R mutation is a prognostic marker in the Trastuzumab-based therapy resistant breast cancer. Further studies can be performed to evaluate this mutation before using Trastuzumab to predict the effectiveness of this treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pregnancy‐associated breast cancer (PABC) is a poor prognosis in women, and the mortality rate is higher in this subgroup of patients than in non‐PABC. This study aims to assess clinicopathological and ultrasound features of patients with PABC. Of 75 patients with breast cancer, 31 cases were in lactating, or pregnancy phase and 44 patients had no recent history of pregnancy/lactation at the time of cancer detection. The available pathological characteristics and ultrasound findings of the PABC and non‐PABC groups were compared. The analysis of ultrasound findings demonstrated that the percentages of antiparallel orientation (p = 0.04) and heterogeneous internal echo pattern (p = 0.002) were higher in the PABC group. The final Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI‐RADS) assessment in the two groups was significantly different (p = 0.008). In this study, most PABCs were BI‐RADS 4c or 5; compared with age‐matched non‐PABC cases. There were significant differences in ER (p = 0.03), receptor groups (p = 0.007), and tumor grade (p = 0.02) in PABC compared to non‐PABC group. To conclude, radiologists should be careful about ultrasound findings of PABC and recommend core needle biopsy in suspected cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Radiotherapy has an essential role in breast cancer treatment. However, tumor cells may be resistant to radiotherapy. Noncoding RNAs are considered regulators of different pathways which modulate radiotherapy. This systematic review classifies long noncoding RNAs, and microRNAs precipitated in the radiation response of breast cancer patients. A total of 14 microRNAs and 8 long noncoding RNAs were studied in this review. MiR-22, miR-200 c, Let7, and LINP1 as tumor suppressors increase the effect of radiotherapy in BC. However, some noncoding RNAs such as HOTAIR, NEAT1, and miR-21 are precipitated in radio-resistance breast cancers. Significant changes in the pattern of noncoding RNAs expression before and after radiotherapy make them a good candidate for the prognosis and prediction of radiotherapy response. MiR-21 and miR-182 can promote radio-resistance via cancer stem cells. At last, the molecular mechanisms initiating radio-resistance were also examined to find the candidate noncoding RNAs for the development of radiation-sensitized agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) were recently discovered as a looped subset of competing endogenous RNAs, with an ability to regulate gene expression by microRNA sponging. There are several studies on their potential roles in cancer development, such as colorectal cancer and basal cell carcinoma. However, there is still a significant gap in the knowledge about circRNA functions in breast cancer (BC) progression. The current study systematically reviewed circRNA biogenesis and their potential roles as a novel biomarker in BC on published studies of the MEDLINE®/PubMed, Cochrane®, and Scopus® databases. The obtained results showed a general dysregulation of circRNAs expression in BC cells with a cell‐type and stage‐specific manner. The potential connection between circRNAs and BC cell proliferation, apoptosis, metastasis, and chemotherapy sensitivity and resistance were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are many risk factors associated with breast cancer (BC) such as the familial history of BC, using hormone replacement therapy, obesity, personal habits, and other clinical factors; however, not all BC cases are attributed to these risk factors. Recent researches show a correlation between patient microbiome and BC suggested as a new risk factor. The present review article aimed at evaluating the role of the microbiome as a risk factor in the occurrence of BC, investigating the proposed mechanisms of interaction between the microbiome and human genes involved in BC, and assessing the impact of the altered composition of breast, gut, and milk microbiome in the physiological status of normal breast as well as cancerous or non-cancerous breast lesions. The study also evaluated the growing evidence that these altered populations may hinder chemotherapeutic treatment. The role of microbiome in the development and maintenance of inflammation, estrogen metabolism, and epigenetic alterations was properly investigated. Finally, clinical and therapeutic applications of the microbiome- e.g., probiotics, microbiome genome modulation, and engineered microbiome enzymes in the management of BC were reviewed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have the potential ability to differentiate into bone, muscle, fat, and cartilage lineage cells. Furthermore, MSCs are known to migrate into tumor-associated stroma of cancer. This tumor microenvironment consists of a dynamic network of growth factors, immune cells, fibroblasts, extracellular matrix, and MSCs. MSCs as nonhematopoietic stem cells affect tumor, epithelial cells by alteration proliferative capacity, morphology, and aggregation pattern of tumor cells. Materials and Methods: This research aimed to further elucidate the MSCs effects in the progress of proliferation, cell cycle, and apoptosis in breast cancer by gene expression analysis in human breast cancer cell lines exposed to MSCs conditioned media (CM). Expression pattern of two genes, including survivin (Birc5) as anti-apoptotic gene and serine threonine kinase 15 as proliferative gene, were studied. Results: Anti-apoptotic and proliferative genes were up-regulated in co-cultured breast tumor cells with MSCs-CM that correlate with tumor progression and poor prognosis. Conclusion: Our results and other findings indicate the interaction of breast tumor cells with MSCs through paracrine factors. Also, the applications of MSCs as therapeutic tools are facing controversial concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Different cells and mediators in the tumor microenvironment play important roles in the progression of breast cancer. The aim of this study was to determine the composition of the microenvironment during tumor progression in order to discover new related biomarkers and potentials for targeted therapy. Methods: In this study, breast cancer biopsies from four different stages, and control breast biopsies were collected. Then, the mRNA expression of several markers related to different CD4+ T cell subsets including regulatory T cells (Treg), T helper (Th) type 1, 2 and 17 were determined. In addition, we investigated the expression of two inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α and IL-6) and inflammatory mediators including FASL, IDO, SOCS1, VEGF, and CCR7. Results: The results showed that the expression of Th1 and Th17 genes was decreased in tumor tissues compared to control tissues. In addition, we found that the gene expression related to these two cell subsets decreased during cancer progression. Moreover, the expression level of TNF-α increased with tumor progression. Conclusion: We conclude that the expression of genes related to immune response and inflammation is different between tumor tissues and control tissues. In addition, this difference was perpetuated through the different stages of cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) family members play important roles in malignancies and are introduced as biomarkers in different types of cancers. Among them CEACAM19 (CEAL1) gene, a new member of the CEA family, remains to be fully elucidated. The aim of this study was investigating the mRNA expression level of CEACAM19 in tumor samples of breast cancer patients compared to breast tissue of normal individuals. We evaluated the expression level of this gene in 75 breast tumors by using real-time quantitative PCR. Also, we studied the correlation between CEACAM19 expression and clinicopathological features and hormone receptors status, including estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR) and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 of patients. Out of the enrolled patients, six of them (7.9%) showed low expression, ten (13.2%) showed normal expression and 59 (77.6%) showed high expression of CEACAM19. There was a significant correlation between high expression of CEACAM19 gene in tumor samples compared to normal tissues ( P = 0.039). No significant correlation was seen between clinicopathological factors and disease-free survival with mRNA levels of CEACAM19 in tumor samples, while the difference between the expression of CEACAM19 in ER/PR-positive and ER/PR-negative breast cancer patients was statistically significant ( P = 0.046). In conclusion, CEACAM19 showed high expression in tumor samples compared to normal mammary tissue. In addition, CEACAM19 may represent as a novel therapeutic target in certain subgroups of breast cancer patients such as ER/PR-negative. Critical roles of CEA proteins in tumor progression may nominate them as robust potential targets for therapeutic intervention in near future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The expression level of NDRG3 gene is investigated among breast cancer (BC) patients. Methods: Real-time quantitative PCR was performed. Results:  NDRG3 was downregulated in BC patients particularly in advanced stage of the disease. HER2 status was significantly correlated with the expression of NDRG3. Also, triple-negative BC patients showed low levels of NDRG3 expression in comparison to other subtypes. Lastly, the expression of NDRG3 had significant impact on survival, with NDRG3 downregulated patients having the worst event-free survival rate among others. Conclusion: We have presented that NDRG3 might be a tumor suppressor candidate. NDRG3 downregulation might be involved in the tumorigenesis and development of invasive BC in an advanced phase of the disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women worldwide. Science has already proved that some breast cancer genes are inherited from parents. It is generally believed that the probability of cancer diagnosis in carriers of those genes is considerably higher than the normal population. It is in the same direction that modern medicine has introduced prophylactic mastectomy - one of the key preventive methods which is the focus of the present research. Nevertheless, whether women that have been diagnosed with breast cancer would take this approach depends on their local culture and their set of beliefs. In this regard, the present research was meant to evaluate the acceptability rate of prophylactic mastectomy among women in Iran after they are informed of the positive genetic test results.Methods: Six hundred and five healthy women, who had no history of breast cancer, were selected by nonprobability sampling method. A predesigned questionnaire was filled out by the interviewer.Results: Results showed that about 15% of respondents were willing to pick the prophylactic mastectomy in case they are identified as carriers of breast cancer genes. Twenty-two percent of participants with positive family history was agreed with prophylactic mastectomy while in the negative family history group it was about 14%.Conclusion: Preventive mastectomy has a higher rate of acceptability among women who have had a family history of breast cancer. Therefore, it may be concluded that raising public awareness about the advantages of prophylactic mastectomy could help better address breast cancer in Iran. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A biocompatible fluorogenic chemosensor (N -(3-carboxy acryloyl)) rhodamine B (RHA) comprising a furan-2,5-dione receptor and a rhodamine fluorophore via an iminohydrazine crosslinker has been prepared for more scrutinizing optical properties and utilization in molecular imaging of living cells. The consequences indicated that RHA not only is a good pH indicator in acidic media but also can be used as a great sensitive fluoroionophore with high selectivity. The fluorescence emission of the molecule RHA is quite stable in the presence of 15 diverse cations, 18 anions (especially H 2 PO 4 −, S2, and F−), and 5 amino acids with the different functional group as a model, except Cu2+ ions with observable emission intensity changing. The Cu2+ probe has a dual functional effect, an "on-off" mechanism in solvent media, and an "off-on" mechanism in Phosphate Buffered Saline (PBS) in acidic pH conditions. The detection limits for Cu2+ in acetone-water media was 0.69 μM and 0.18 μM in pH = 5.0. Moreover, RHA can fluorescently and colorimetrically image Cu2+ ions in acidic and neutral pH with low cytotoxicity in living cells. Unlabelled Image • The rhodamine-based chemosensor (RHA) has distinct fluorescent properties. • The fluorophore selectively targeted at Cu2+ ions among 15 different cations, 18 anions (specially F-, S2- and H 2 PO 4 -), and 5 amino acids. • The unique fluoroionophore probe has a dual property in Cu2+ fluorescence responsiveness, which immediately responded to Cu2+ ions in natural pH based on the CHEQ mechanism and acidic pH through fluorescence enhancement. • This probe exhibits excellent membrane-permeable, low cytotoxicity, and good performance in the detection of Cu2+ in the MCF7 cell line. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]