Organochlorine Pesticide Tissue Levels in Benign and Malignant Breast Disease: A Comparative Exploratory Study.

Exposure to organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) may be a risk factor for breast cancer (BC). Their role may be more relevant in developing countries such as India, where an abundance of these products is used for agricultural purposes. The present study compares OCP tissue levels in patients who underwent BC surgery (group A) or patients who had surgery for excision of breast fibroadenoma (group B). We perform OCP level quantification using a PerkinElmer, Inc. (Waltham, MA) gas chromatograph (GC) that is equipped with a 63Ni selective electron-capture detector. Significantly higher breast tissue OCP levels are present in the study population, indicating significant exposure. We detect 18 different types of OPCs in study subjects, with six OPCs (γ-hexachlorocyclohexane [HCH], δ-HCH, endrin, endosulfan-II, p,p'-dichlorodiphenyldichloroenthane [DDD], and p,p'-dichlorodiphenyltrichloroenthane [DDT]) present in all subjects. Endosulfan-II, p,p'-DDT, and p,p'-DDD tissue levels are significantly higher in BC patients than in those with fibroadenoma. Higher tissue levels of OCPs (α-HCH) are significantly associated with the presence of extracapsular spread (1.42 vs. 0.91; p = 0.04) and higher disease stage (early BC vs. locally advanced BC; 18.90 vs. 11.90; p = 0.04). The present pilot study indicates higher OCP tissue levels in northern India BC patients compared to patients with fibroadenoma.

The diagnostic role of microRNA 21 in patients with nonsmall cell lung cancer: An exploratory study.

BACKGROUND: Although histopathological examination of the biopsy specimen is the gold standard for the diagnosis of non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), a blood-based noninvasive test (liquid biopsy) may prove to be helpful in patients with repeatedly negative biopsy or for response assessment following neoadjuvant therapy. The present study was conducted to explore the diagnostic value of circulating serum microRNA (miRNA) 21 in patients with NSCLC. METHODS: This case-control analytical study was carried out in a tertiary care teaching hospital in Northern India. The study consisted of 30 cases of biopsy-proven NSCLC and 30 controls. Serum miRNA-21 expression levels were estimated by extracting total RNA from the serum sample, reverse transcribing it to cDNA and quantified in relation to U6 reference miRNA. RESULTS: A total of 30 patients with NSCLC and 30 controls were included in the study. The subjects were comparable in two groups with reference to age, gender, and smoking. Pathological types were adenocarcinoma in 19 (63.3%) and squamous cell carcinoma in 11 (36.6%) patients. Majority of the patients had advanced disease-AJCC stage III in 15 patients and AJCC Stage IV in 13 patients; two patients had stage II disease. There was a significant upregulation of serum miRNA 21 gene expression in the patients with lung cancer compared to controls (median fold change, 3.39 vs. -2.81, P = 0.00). A fourfold change in serum miRNA 21 is significantly associated with the diagnosis of NSCLC with a high specificity of 97% and area under curve of 0.84 (95% confidence interval of 0.74-0.94). CONCLUSION: Estimation of serum miRNA 21 expression has potential to be used as liquid biopsy for the diagnosis of NSCLC. Further studies with large sample sizes are warranted to confirm the diagnostic accuracy of serum miRNA 21 expression.