ABSTRACT
Human saliva can be easily obtained by non-invasive techniques. It contains many analytes of interest for screening, diagnosis and monitoring of normal and abnormal conditions. The protein c-erbB-2, also known as Her2/neu, is a prognostic breast cancer marker in women diagnosed with malignant tumors. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between serum and saliva levels of c-erbB-2 in healthy women and untreated and treated patients with breast cancer. A case-control study design was used for this investigation. A total of forty two women were included in the study. Participants were matched for age and were divided into three equal groups. The collected specimens were evaluated for the expression of c-erbB-2 levels in serum and unstimulated whole saliva by ELISA technique. The ANOVA and Pearson Correlation were used for data analyses. Significant lower unstimulated salivary flow rate was observed in untreated cases in comparison with healthy women. However, no significant difference was detected in whole saliva output, as well as serum and saliva concentration of c-erbB-2 between the three groups. The correlation of c-erbB-2 between serum and saliva concentrations [r=0.02] and between serum concentration and saliva output [r=0.18] were not statistically significant. It seems that salivary and serum c-erbB-2 concentrations have no correlation in early stages of breast cancer and non-metastatic conditions