ABSTRACT
Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women. Obesity is known as a risk factor for breast cancer acting directly on breast cancer by producing adipocytokines. On the other hand, it seems that telomerase activity and especially expression of its catalytic subunit [hTERT] are critical for cancer initiation and development
Objective: To determine the relationship between obesity grades and adipocytokines associated with expression of hTERT gene at different stages of breast cancer
Methods: This was an analytical study carried out on 65 breast cancer patients during 2009-2010. Blood sample and fresh tumour tissue were collected from all patients. Expression of hTERT gene in tumour tissue was evaluated using quantitative real-time PCR and the plasma level of adipocytokines also tested
Findings: Expression of hTERT gene was detected in 53 samples with an expression level which significantly correlated with BMI, stage, and grade of cancer. Also, there was a positive significant correlation between hTERT expression level and leptin level [r=0.484, P=0.008] however, no correlation with other adipocytokines including IL-6 [r=-0.041, P=0.83] and TNF-alpha [r=-0.059, P=0.76] was observed
Conclusion: Considering the data, it could be concluded that obesity, as the source of leptin, may play a direct role in occurrence and development of breast cancer