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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]

Background: Luminal subtype is the most common subgroup of breast cancer (BC), accounting for more than 70% of this cancer. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are a group of RNAs which play critical roles in diverse cellular processes. It is proved that dysregulation of them can contribute to the development of various cancers, including BC. LINC00961 was reported to be downregulated in several cancers, however, its expression level in BC remains largely unknown. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the possible role of LINC00961 in luminal A and B subtypes of BC. Methods: To obtain novel lncRNAs associated with different cancers and differentially expressed lncRNAs (DElncRNAs) between BC tumor and normal tissues, Lnc2Cancer and GDC databases were used, respectively. After performing literature review, the expression level of the selected lncRNA (LINC00961) was evaluated in 79 luminal A and B BC specimens and adjacent non-cancerous tissues by Quantitative Reverse Transcription PCR (qRT-PCR). LINC00961 expression was also evaluated in two luminal A BC cell lines, compared to a normal breast cell line. The comparison of the differences between tumor and adjacent non-tumor samples was performed by paired sample t-test. Moreover, correlation analysis between LINC00961 expression and clinicopathological features was performed using the chi-square, fisher exact, and independent t-test. In order to investigate the possible roles of LINC00961 in luminal A and B BC, different bioinformatics analyses such as functional annotation of the LINC00961 co-expressed genes and protein–protein interaction (PPI) networks construction were also performed. Results: LINC00961 was selected as a significant DElncRNA which had not been studied in BC. According to q-RT PCR assay, LINC00961 was downregulated in luminal BC tissues and cell lines. Its expression was correlated with smoking status and the age of menarche in luminal BC patients. Also, the results of the bioinformatics analysis were consistent with the data obtained from q-RT PCR assay. The final results indicated that LINC00961 might be involved in multiple cancer-associated pathways such as chemokine, Ras and PI3K–Akt signaling pathways, GPCR ligand binding, and signal transduction in luminal subtypes of BC. CDH5, GNG11, GNG8, SELL, S1PR1, CCL19, FYN, ACAN, CD3E, ACVRL1, CAV1, and PPARGC1A were identified as the top hub genes of the PPI networks across luminal subgroup. Conclusion: Our findings suggested that LINC00961 was significantly downregulated in luminal A and B subtypes of BC. Moreover, bioinformatics analysis provided a basis for better identification of the potential role of LINC00961 in luminal subtype of BC. [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]

Background: Luminal breast cancer (BC) is the most frequent subtype accounting for more than 70% of BC. LncRNAs, a class of non-coding RNAs with more than 200 nucleotides, are involved in a variety of cellular processes and biological functions. Abberant expression is related to the development of various cancers, such as breast cancer. LINC01133, ZEB1-AS1, and ABHD11-AS1 were reported to be dysregulated in different cancers. However, their expression level in luminal BC remains poorly known. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the potential roles of these lncRNAs in BC, especially in luminal subtypes.Methods: A comprehensive analysis was performed using the Lnc2Cancer database to identify novel cancer-associated lncRNA candidates. After conducting a literature review, three novel lncRNAs named LINC01133, ZEB1-AS1, and ABHD11-AS1 were chosen as target genes of the present study. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to evaluate the expression level of the mentioned lncRNAs in both luminal BC tissues and cell lines. Then, the correlation of the three mentioned lncRNAs expression with clinicopathological characteristics of the patients was studied. Moreover, several datasets were used to discover the potential roles and functions of LINC01133, ZEB1-AS1 and ABHD11-AS1 in luminal subtype of BC.Results: According to the qRT-PCR assay, the expression levels of LINC01133 and ZEB1-AS1 were decreased in luminal BC tissues and cell lines. On the other hand, ABHD11-AS1 was upregulated in the above-mentioned samples. The expression levels of LINC01133, ZEB1-AS1, and ABHD11-AS1 were not associated with any of the clinical features. Also, the results obtained from the bioinformatics analyses were consistent with qRT-PCR data. Functional annotation of the co-expressed genes with the target lncRNAs, protein-protein interactions and significantly enriched Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways across luminal BC were also obtained using bioinformatics analysis.Conclusions: Taken together, our findings disclosed the dysregulation of LINC01133, ZEB1-AS1, and ABHD11-AS1 in luminal BC. It was revealed that LINC01133 and ZEB1-AS1 expression was significantly downregulated in luminal BC tissues and cell lines, while ABHD11-AS1 was upregulated considerably in the mentioned tissues and cell lines. Also, bioinformatics and systems biology analyses have helped to identify the possible role of these lncRNAs in luminal BC. However, further analysis is needed to confirm the current findings. [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]