Human Cytomegalovirus Protein Expression Is Correlated with Shorter Overall Survival in Breast Cancer Patients: A Cohort Study.

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is increasingly suggested to be involved in human carcinogenesis and onco-modulation due to its ability to contribute to all hallmarks of cancer. Growing evidence demonstrates a link between HCMV infection and various malignancies, including breast cancer, which incidence and mortality are still on the rise. The etiology of breast cancer remains mostly unclear, leaving 80% of breast cancer cases considered to be sporadic.

A regulatory network comprising let-7 miRNA and SMUG1 is associated with good prognosis in ER+ breast tumours.

Single-strand selective uracil-DNA glycosylase 1 (SMUG1) initiates base excision repair (BER) of uracil and oxidized pyrimidines. SMUG1 status has been associated with cancer risk and therapeutic response in breast carcinomas and other cancer types. However, SMUG1 is a multifunctional protein involved, not only, in BER but also in RNA quality control, and its function in cancer cells is unclear.

Detection of Human Cytomegalovirus Proteins in Paraffin-Embedded Breast Cancer Tissue Specimens-A Novel, Automated Immunohistochemical Staining Protocol.

Emerging evidence supports a significant association between human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) and human malignancies, suggesting HCMV as a human oncomodulatory virus. HCMV gene products are found in >90% of breast cancer tumors and seem to be correlated with more aggressive disease. The definitive diagnosis of HCMV relies on identification of virus inclusions and/or viral proteins by different techniques including immunohistochemical staining.

A Review of the Potential Role of Human Cytomegalovirus (HCMV) Infections in Breast Cancer Carcinogenesis and Abnormal Immunity.

Previously recognized classical human onco-viruses can regulate complex neoplastic events, and are estimated to play a role during carcinogenesis in 15-20% of cancer cases. Although the DNA and gene products of several viruses have been found in breast tumors, none of the classical onco-viruses have definitely been linked to the initiation of breast cancer. However, recent evidence shows that human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) gene products are found in >90% of tumors and metastases of breast cancers, and their increased expression can be correlated to a more aggressive breast cancer phenotype.

Human cytomegalovirus infection is correlated with enhanced cyclooxygenase-2 and 5-lipoxygenase protein expression in breast cancer.

Purpose: While enhanced expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and 5-lipoxygenase (5-LO) and their derived metabolites is associated with breast cancer (BC) risk, the precise link between BC carcinogenesis and enhanced inflammatory activity remains to be clarified. Human Cytomegalovirus (HCMV) may induce expression of COX-2 and 5-LO and is frequently found in breast cancer biopsies. Thus, we investigated whether there is an association between HCMV proteins and expression of COX-2 and 5-LO in human BC tissue and BC cell lines.

Somatic EP300-G211S mutations are associated with overall somatic mutational patterns and breast cancer specific survival in triple-negative breast cancer.

Purpose: We have compared the mutational profiles of human breast cancer tumor samples belonging to all major subgroups with special emphasis on triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Our major goal was to identify specific mutations that could be potentially used for clinical decision making in TNBC patients.

Patients And Methods: Primary tumor specimens from 149 Norwegian breast cancer patients were available.

In breast cancer subtypes steroid sulfatase (STS) is associated with less aggressive tumour characteristics.

Background: The majority of breast cancer cases are steroid dependent neoplasms, with hormonal manipulation of either CYP19/aromatase or oestrogen receptor alpha axis being the most common therapy. Alternate pathways of steroid actions are documented, but their interconnections and correlations to BC subtypes and clinical outcome could be further explored.

Methods: We evaluated selected steroid receptors (Androgen Receptor, Oestrogen Receptor alpha and Beta, Glucocorticoid Receptor) and oestrogen pathways (steroid sulfatase (STS), 17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase 2 (17βHSD2) and aromatase) in a cohort of 139 BC cases from Norway.

Low Expression of Estrogen Receptor-α and Progesterone Receptor in Human Breast Cancer Tissues Is Associated With High-Grade Human Cytomegalovirus Protein Expression.

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.

The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR / HER-1) gatekeeper mutation T790M is present in European patients with early breast cancer.

The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is one of the major oncogenes identified in a variety of human malignancies including breast cancer (BC). EGFR-mutations have been studied in lung cancer for some years and are established as important markers in guiding therapy with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). In contrast, EGFR-mutations have been reported to be rare if not absent in human BC, although recent evidence has suggested a significant worldwide variation in somatic EGFR-mutations.