Very late relapse in breast cancer survivors: a report of 6 cases

Breast cancer is the most common cancer and the leading cause of cancer death among the women worldwide. The risk of local and distant recurrence is the highest during the first two years following the initial treatment. Very late relapse [after 12 years] is uncommon in breast cancer survivors. Herein, we report the characteristics and outcomes of 6 such cases of breast cancer. The mean age of the patients was 40.1 years [range 30-57] and the mean disease free survival was 19.6 years. Late relapse is not so common in breast cancer but can occur in any stage. Therefore, we suggest life-time follow up for every patient with breast cancer

CCL22 16C/A genetic variation is not associated with breast carcinoma in southern Iranian population

CCL22/MDC is a CC chemokine with a critical role in regulation of the immune balance in physiological condition. CCL22/CCR-4 ligation has been documented to participate in the migration of regulatory T [Treg] cells and Th2 lymphocytes to the site of breast tumors; circumstances that are known to be associated with poor prognosis. To investigate the association of a single nucleotide polymorphism [SNP] in CCL22 gene; 16C/A [rs4359426; Asp2Ala], with susceptibility to breast cancer in a sample of Iranian population. Methods: 161 patients with pathologically confirmed breast carcinoma [mean age 49.3 +/- 11.5 yrs] and 178 agematched healthy women [mean age: 49.3 +/- 12.9 yrs] were studied. CCL22 genotypes were investigated by the Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism [PCR-RFLP] method. Data was verified by direct automated sequencing. Arlequin analysis showed no deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The most frequent genotype in both patient and control groups was wild type CC genotype with frequency of 146 out of 161 [90.7%] among patients and 153 out of 178 [86.0%] in control group [p=0.24]. The frequency of CA genotype was 15 [9.3%] and 23 [12.9%] in patients and controls, respectively [p=0.38]. No AA genotype was observed among patients but this genotype was observed with the frequency of 2 out of 178 [1.1%] in control subjects. The minor allele frequency [MAF] was 0.07 in the population. No correlation was found between the investigated genotypes and clinicopathological characteristics of the patients. Conclusively, results of this investigation do not support the association of 16C/A SNP [rs4359426; Asp2Ala] in CCL22 gene with susceptibility to, and progression of, breast cancer in Iranian population