Evaluation of expression of ck-18 tumor marker in blood samples of patients with breast cancer using real time pcr

Armin Gharibi,1,* Roudabeh behzadi andouhjerdi,2

1. islamic azad university central tehran branch
2. islamic azad university central tehran branch

Abstract


Introduction

Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world. according to world health statistics, one in every 8 to 10 women develops breast cancer and according to iranian statistics, in our country, the probability is one in every 10 to 15 women. the mean age of diagnosis for breast cancer in the western countries is 56 years and in iran is 45 years. since this cancer develops in women at an age of maximum individual, familial, and social efficiency, attention to this disease is of particular importance. one of the most common methods used to diagnose cancer is laboratory tests using tumor markers, factors present in the blood, urine or body tissues and their increase or decrease can be used for various purposes in screening, diagnosis, prognosis or treatment of diseases. cytokeratins(ck) are the largest subgroup of interstitial proteins and their expression change during the cancerous development. cytokeratin (ck-18) is one of the major proteins of the epithelial cell skeleton, and in this research, the expression potential of ck-18 gene was studied as a molecular biomarker for diagnosis of breast cancer in the circulatory system using real-time pcr technique, so that it can be used in further studies on mechanism of action of this gene as a suitable target for the treatment of breast cancer.

Methods

Blood samples of patients and healthy individuals (as control group) were purchased from cancer institute of imam khomeini hospital, tehran and their rna were extracted. in the next step, cdna molecule was synthesized using reverse transcriptase enzyme (rt) and gene-specific primers were designed and synthesized. then the expression of ck-18 tumor marker was evaluated by real-time pcr technique; finally, the data obtained from cancer samples and the control group were analyzed by spss software.

Results

: ck-18 was observed and measured in patients’ serum and was very low in the healthy group.

Conclusion

Ck-18 expression was measured quantitatively and was positive in patients’ serum. also, according to the disease grade, ck-18 expression was different in patients’ serum; the more the disease progressed, the higher the expression

Keywords

Circulating tumor cells (ctc), breast cancer, ck-18, tumor marker, real-time pcr