Breast cancer in young women: its biological and clinical uniqueness and needs of comprehensive care

MicroRNA-623 inhibits tumor progression and is a predictor of poor prognosis of breast cancer

Dysregulated microRNAs (miRNAs) serve vital roles in the progression and prognosis of breast cancer. miR-623 has been reported to influence the progression of numerous other cancers, such as lung adenocarcinoma and hepatocellular carcinoma, however, its role in breast cancer remains unclear. In the present study, the mRNA expression of miR-623 was studied in 121 pairs of breast cancer and adjacent normal tissues and cultured cell lines by reverse-transcription quantitative PCR. The association between miR-623 expression and clinical characteristics or the overall survival rate of patients was investigated by the χ² test or Cox regression analysis, respectively. The role of miR-623 in cell proliferation, migration and invasion of breast cancer cells was evaluated by cell transfection to regulate miR-623 expression and the CCK8 and Transwell assays, respectively. miR-623 was downregulated in breast cancer tissues and cell lines compared with normal tissues and breast epithelial cell lines. The χ² test demonstrated that the downregulation of miR-623 was associated with the tumor node metastasis (TNM) stage of patients with breast cancer. miR-623 and TNM stage were considered as two independent prognostic factors for breast cancer. Additionally, cell proliferation, migration, and invasion of breast cancer cells were promoted by the downregulation of miR-623, while upregulation of miR-623 led to inhibition of the aforementioned processes. Downregulation of miR-623 in breast cancer is associated with the development of breast cancer and indicates a poor prognosis of patients. The downregulation of miR-623 promotes cell proliferation, migration and invasion of breast cancer. The findings of the present study indicate that miR-623 functions as a prognosis biomarker and a tumor suppressor in breast cancer, which provides a potential therapeutic target for patients with breast cancer.

Breast cancer characteristics in very young Egyptian women ≤35 years

Background

Breast cancer in very young patients represents a unique issue that needs more attention as the number of cases is increasing and it has special characteristics at presentation, diagnosis, and biologic behaviors which reflect on both treatment strategies and survival. The aim of the current study was to analyze and report the clinico-pathological characteristics and treatment procedures used for breast cancer in very young patients over the last decade in a single Egyptian cancer center.

Patients and methods

A retrospective study was conducted in the Oncology Center – Mansoura University, where the data of all breast cancer patients, between September 2006 and August 2015, were reviewed. Among 4,628 patients who were diagnosed with breast cancer during this period, only 300 patients aged ≤35 years had complete registry data. Clinico-pathological characteristics, therapeutic procedures, and survival outcome were reported.

Results

Three hundred and seventy-nine patients (8.19%) were aged ≤35 years at the time of presentation. The age ranged between 21 and 35 years, and the mean age was 31 years (±3 standard deviation). Positive family history of breast cancer was found in 12.3%, and metastatic presentation was seen in 4.7%. The rate of axillary lymph nodes involvement was 75.7%. The estrogen receptor-negative disease was found in 51%, and among 217 patients who did HER2 test, 82 patients (37.8%) were HER2 positive, while triple-negative subtype was found in 57 patients (26.4%). Ki 67 percentage ranged between 3% and 66% (median was 35%). The median disease-free survival was 61 months (95% confidence interval 44–78 months); the 3-year and 5-year disease-free survival were 58% and 50%, respectively. The 3-year and 5-year overall survival were 88% and 68%, respectively.

Conclusion

Very young Egyptian patients with breast cancer should be given focus and specially studied as the presentation has more aggressive biologic behavior at advanced stages, so the treatment strategies have to be tailored in a very precise manner.