Comparative analysis of CD4+ and CD8+ T Cells in tumor tissues, lymph nodes and the peripheral blood from patients with breast cancer

CD4+ and CD8+ T cells are the main types of lymphocytes in cell-mediated immunity and play a central role in the induction of efficient immune responses against tumors. The frequencies of T cell subtypes in the peripheral blood and tumor tissues, and draining lymph nodes [dLN] can be considered as useful markers for evaluation of the immune system in cancers. In this study, the frequencies of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in blood, tumor tissues, and dLN samples of breast cancer patients were compared with each other and with similar tissues from normal individuals. Immunophenotyping was carried out by flow cytometry and the expression levels of CXCL10, granzyme B, and mammaglobin were evaluated by real-time PCR In the peripheral blood, there were no differences in the T cell subsets between the patients and the normal individuals. The frequency of CD8+ T cells was significantly higher in tumor tissue than normal breast tissues while granzyme B expression was similar. Based on mammaglobin expression levels, dLN have been classified into micro- and macro-metastatic dLN. We found significantly lower frequency of CD4+ in macro-metastatic dLN than micro-metastatic dLN. CD8+ frequency was similar in both dLN; however, granzyme B expression was higher in micro-metastatic ones. There was not any significant difference in CXCL10 expression between the two types of dLN. Based on our results, although the tumor does not affect the systemic immunity, tumoral cells affect the local immune system in the tumoral tissues and the metastatic dLN.

Ultrasound accuracy in determining the tumor depth for boost field radiotherapy in breast cancer in comparison with CT scan plus clips

Background: There are miscellaneous methods of boost field determination with different levels of accuracy. One of the important parameters in boost field planning is the tumor bed depth, as it is important for determining electron energy

Objectives: The purpose of present research was the determination of ultrasound accuracy to estimate the appropriate depth for the tumor bed

Patients and Methods: Patients who were undergone breast conservative surgery with placing of 5 clips in the tumor bed [lower, upper, medial, lateral, and posterior] were included. The depth and location of the tumor bed were determined using ultrasonography. The optimum field boost was planned with an appropriate 2.5 cm margin. After putting the marker on the field boost, the CT simulation was done and then the obtained depth of the ultrasound report and that of the CT scan-clips were compared

Results: Twenty five patients were included. The average depth reported by the ultrasound was about 18 mm +/- 3 mm [range 10-26 mm], and the average obtained from the CT scan-clips was about 48 mm +/- 13 mm [range 24-80 mm], [P Value = 0.001]. In almost all cases, the depth obtained from the ultrasound was less than that obtained from the CT scan- clips

Conclusions: Ultrasound is not an accurate method to determine the appropriate depth and field for determination of breast field boost. Thus, it is better not to use ultrasound to estimate the tumor cavity depth; the CT scan images with surgical clips should be used instead

Mutation screening in the mitochondrial d-loop region of tumoral and non-tumoral breast cancer in Iranian patients

The mitochondrial DNA [mtDNA] mutations in mitochondrial coding and non coding regions seem to be important in carcinogenesis. The aim of this investigation was to evaluate coding region [mttRNA[Phe] and tRNA[Pro]] and non-coding sequence, mitochondrial displacement loop [mtDNA D-loop], in the cancerous and non-cancerous lesions of Iranian patients with breast cancer [BC]. Genomic DNA was extracted from 50 breast tumors and surrounding normal tissue pairs as well as from 50 unrelated normal breast tissues from Iranian Kurdish population. Subsequently, PCR amplification was performed using specific primers, and then PCR products were subjected to direct sequencing. 41 genetic variants were identified in mtDNA D-loop among tumoral and non-tumoral tissues but not in tRNA[Phe] and tRNA[Pro] sequences. Our findings indicated that C182T, 194insT, 285insA and 16342delT were just found in BC tumors whereas 302insC, C309T and C16069T found in both tumors and surrounding normal tissues. Although our findings showed that the observed genetic variations were not restricted to breast cancer tissues, some genetic changes were found only in BC tumors. Our results, in agreement with the evidence from earlier studies, confirm that the mtDNA genetic alterations might be implicated in tumor initiation, progression and development.