Afsar Rahbar1, Joel Touma2, Helena Costa3, Belghis Davoudi3, Ida Rashid Bukholm4, Torill Sauer5, Katja Vetvik2, Jürgen Geisler6, Cecilia Söderberg-Naucler3. 1. Department of Medicine Solna, Experimental Cardiovascular Research Unit and Departments of Medicine and Neurology, Center for Molecular Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden. Electronic address: afsar.rahbar@ki.se. 2. Department of Breast and Endocrine Surgery, Akershus University Hospital, Lørenskog, Norway. 3. Department of Medicine Solna, Experimental Cardiovascular Research Unit and Departments of Medicine and Neurology, Center for Molecular Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden. 4. Norwegian System of Compensation for Patient Claimes, Oslo, Norway; Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Oslo, Norway. 5. Department of Pathology, Akershus University Hospital, Lørenskog, Norway; Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Campus Akershus University Hospital, Lørenskog, Oslo, Norway. 6. Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Campus Akershus University Hospital, Lørenskog, Oslo, Norway; Department of Oncology, Akershus University Hospital, Lørenskog, Norway.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The underlying mechanisms for breast cancer (BC) are largely unknown. We investigated possible correlations between the expression levels of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) proteins and established histopathological markers of BC, including expression of estrogen receptor (ER)-α, the progesterone receptor (PgR), and HER2. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively examined paraffin-embedded biopsy specimens of BC (n = 62), ductal carcinoma in situ (n = 19), and adjacent normal breast tissue (n = 42) for HCMV immediate-early protein (IE), HCMV late antigen, HCMV DNA and RNA, and investigated possible correlations between them and expression of ER-α, PgR, and HER2. RESULTS: HCMV DNA and RNA were detected in all examined infiltrating BCs. High-grade positivity for HCMV-IE was detected in 77% of infiltrating BCs, 39% of ductal carcinomas in situ, and 7% of tumor-free breast tissue samples. HCMV expression correlated inversely with ER-α (P = .02) and PgR (P = .003) expression. HER2 expression was also reduced in HCMV-positive samples without reaching a level of statistical significance (P = .09). CONCLUSION: The negative correlation between high-grade expression HCMV-IE and hormone receptor expression suggests a role for HCMV in hormone receptor-negative BC tumors, possibly by forcing BC cells into a more aggressive phenotype.
BACKGROUND: The underlying mechanisms for breast cancer (BC) are largely unknown. We investigated possible correlations between the expression levels of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) proteins and established histopathological markers of BC, including expression of estrogen receptor (ER)-α, the progesterone receptor (PgR), and HER2. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively examined paraffin-embedded biopsy specimens of BC (n = 62), ductal carcinoma in situ (n = 19), and adjacent normal breast tissue (n = 42) for HCMV immediate-early protein (IE), HCMV late antigen, HCMV DNA and RNA, and investigated possible correlations between them and expression of ER-α, PgR, and HER2. RESULTS:HCMV DNA and RNA were detected in all examined infiltrating BCs. High-grade positivity for HCMV-IE was detected in 77% of infiltrating BCs, 39% of ductal carcinomas in situ, and 7% of tumor-free breast tissue samples. HCMV expression correlated inversely with ER-α (P = .02) and PgR (P = .003) expression. HER2 expression was also reduced in HCMV-positive samples without reaching a level of statistical significance (P = .09). CONCLUSION: The negative correlation between high-grade expression HCMV-IE and hormone receptor expression suggests a role for HCMV in hormone receptor-negative BC tumors, possibly by forcing BC cells into a more aggressive phenotype.
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