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Concomitance of downregulated active caspase-3 and upregulated X-chromosome linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein as a sensitive diagnostic approach for breast cancer

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Abstract

We aimed to explore the efficacy of active caspase-3 and X-chromosome linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein (XIAP) as diagnostic markers for breast cancer. Furthermore, we examined the relationship between the examined parameters and clinicopathological factors. The current study involved 96 patients diagnosed with breast cancer and 40 patients had benign breast diseases. The expression of active caspase-3 was analyzed by both ELISA and Western blot, whereas the expression of XIAP was determined by ELISA in cell lysates. Active caspase-3 was significantly downregulated, while XIAP was markedly upregulated in patients with breast cancer in comparison to benign group. A significant negative correlation was observed between active caspase-3 and XIAP in breast cancer patients. Low active caspase-3 expression was associated with high grade, whereas, the high XIAP level was correlated with poorly differentiated tumors and late tumor stages. The sensitivity and specificity were 73.96% and 80.0% for active caspase-3, and, 70.83% and 82.5% for XIAP. A combination of active caspase-3 and XIAP provided a promising sensitivity of 88.54% and specificity of 90.0%. Our data indicate that active caspase-3 and XIAP could be substantial diagnostic markers for breast cancer patients.

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Acknowledgements

This project was funded by the Deanship of Scientific Research (DSR) at King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, under Grant No. G-48-130-38. The authors, therefore, acknowledge with thanks DSR for technical and financial support. The authors thank the Pathology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt, for providing the histopathological data of the patients included in this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biochemistry Department, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, 21589, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

    Samir F. Zohny & Mazin A. Zamzami

  2. Biochemistry Department, Faculty of Science, Ain Shams University, Abbassia, 11566, Cairo, Egypt

    Samir F. Zohny

  3. General Surgery Department, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Abbassia, 11566, Cairo, Egypt

    Mohamed El-Shinawi

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  1. Samir F. Zohny
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  2. Mazin A. Zamzami
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Correspondence to Samir F. Zohny.

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Ethical standards

All procedures were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1964 and its later amendments.

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Informed consent was obtained from all patients included in the study.

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Zohny, S.F., Zamzami, M.A. & El-Shinawi, M. Concomitance of downregulated active caspase-3 and upregulated X-chromosome linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein as a sensitive diagnostic approach for breast cancer. Mol Cell Biochem 455, 159–167 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11010-018-3479-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11010-018-3479-5

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