Expression Study and Clinical Correlations of MFC and CCAT2 in Breast Cancer Patients

Background: Colon cancer-associated transcript 2 [CCAT2] is a newly recognized IncRNA transcribed from the 8q24 genomic region. It functions as an oncogene in various types of cancers including breast cancer, in which it affects Wnt/p-catenin pathway. Previous studies have shown a putative interaction between this IncRNA and MYC proto-oncogene

Methods: In the current study, we evaluated the expression of CCAT2 in breast cancer tissues with regards to the expression of its target MYC. In addition, we assessed the relationship between CCAT2 and MYC expression levels in tumor tissues and the clinical prognostic characteristics of breast cancer patients

Results: MYC expression levels were significantly up-regulated in tumor tissues compared with adjacent non-cancerous tissues [ANCTs], while such analysis showed no statistically significant difference between these two tissue types in CCAT2 expression. Starkly increased CCAT2 gene expression levels were found in 12/48 [25%] of cancer tissue samples compared with their corresponding ANCTs. Furthermore, significant inverse correlations were found between CCAT2 expression and stage, as well as lymph node involvement. Besides, a significant inverse correlation was found between the relative MYC expression in tumor tissues compared with their corresponding ANCTs and disease stage

Conclusions: These results highlight the significance of MYC and CCAT2 expressions in the early stages of breast cancer development and suggest a potentially significant role for CCAT2 in a subset of breast cancer patients, which could be applied as a potential therapeutic target in these patients

Upregulation of RHOXF2 and ODF4 expression in Breast Cancer tissues

Objective: During the past decade, the importance of biomarker discovery has been highlighted in many aspects of cancer research. Biomarkers may have a role in early detection of cancer, prognosis and survival evaluation as well as drug response. Cancer-testis antigens [CTAs] have gained attention as cancer biomarkers because of their expression in a wide variety of tumors and restricted expression in testis. The aim of this study was to find putative biomarkers for breast cancer

Materials and Methods: In this applied-descriptive study, the expression of 4 CTAs, namely acrosin binding protein [ACRBP], outer dense fiber 4 [ODF4], Rhox homeobox family member 2 [RHOXF2] and spermatogenesis associated 19 [SPATA19] were analyzed at the transcript level in two breast cancer lines [MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231], 40 invasive ductal carcinoma samples and their adjacent normal tissues as well as 10 fibroadenoma samples by means of quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction [RT-PCR]

Results: All four genes were expressed in both cell lines. Expression of ODF4 and RHOXF2 was detected in 62.5% and 60% of breast cancer tissues but in 22.5 and 17.5% of normal tissues examined respectively. The expression of both RHOXF2 and ODF4 was upregulated in cancerous tissues compared with their normal adjacent tissues by 3.31- and 2.96-fold respectively. The expression of both genes was correlated with HER2/neu overexpression. RHOXF2 expression but not ODF4 was correlated with higher stages of tumors. However, no significant association was seen between expression patterns and estrogen and progesterone receptors status

Conclusion: ODF4 and RHOXF2 are proposed as putative breast cancer biomarkers at the transcript level. However, their expression at protein level should be evaluated in future studies