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Accumulating evidence has indicated that immune regulatory cells are involved in the establishment of the anti-tumor activity, however; the role of regulatory B cells (B-regs) in breast cancer (BC) remains unclear. This study intended to assess the frequency of peripheral B-regs phenotypes in patients with BC, and to determine the relation between these phenotypes and the patient's clinicopathological characters. The expressions of the immune cell populations were analyzed by four-color flow cytometry in 40 naïve BC patients and 10 age-matched apparently healthy individuals as controls attending the department of Clinical Oncology and Nuclear Medicine at Assiut University Hospitals. The percentages of B-regs phenotypes CD19+IL10+ and CD19+CD24hiCD27+IL10+ were higher in BC patients than in the controls. The percentage of CD19+IL10+ B cells phenotype was significantly associated with the HER-2 expression levels, T, and N stages of BC. In conclusion, high percentage of B-regs phenotypes CD19+IL10+ and CD19+CD24hiCD27+IL10+ in BC patients indicates a possible role in immune suppression during the development of BC., (Copyright© by the Egyptian Association of Immunologists.)

Interleukin-35 (IL-35), is a recently identified cytokine that belongs to the IL-12 family, it is a potent anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive cytokine which was first recognized to be produced by regulatory T cells (Tregs) cells, and recently was found to be produced by regulatory B cells (Bregs). The study aimed at determining whether plasma levels of IL-35 are associated with clinical characteristics of breast cancer (BC) patients. The study included 40 patients with breast cancer (BC), and 10 matched controls. The IL-35 cytokine was measured in plasma using ELISA. Results showed that plasma IL-35levels were significantly higher in BC than healthy controls (P˂ 0.05), and were significantly associated with BC grade 2 and HER-2 over expression level "3+", suggesting that plasma IL-35 levels may be associated with the development and progression of BC., (Copyright© by the Egyptian Association of Immunologists.)