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MicroRNA-21 Expression in Primary Breast Cancer Tissue Among Egyptian Female Patients and its Correlation with Chromosome 17 Aneusomy

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Abstract

Introduction

Breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer amongst Egyptian women and worldwide. MicroRNA-21 (miR-21), on chromosome 17q21.3, is one of the most up-regulated microRNAs in cancer that silences multiple target genes involved in cancer-signaling pathways. The aim of this study was to assess the correlation between numerical aberrations of chromosome 17 and the miR-21 expression profile in BC tissues in female Egyptian patients.

Methods

The study included 37 female patients with sporadic primary breast carcinoma, their age ranged from 31 to 65 years. Fresh breast tissue specimens were evaluated for miR-21 expression levels using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction technology and cytogenetic fluorescent in situ hybridization analysis for chromosome 17 aneusomy.

Results

miR-21 was up-regulated 12.9-fold in BC tissues compared with normal adjacent tissue. Over-expression was significantly associated with several clinico-pathologic characteristics; as higher tumor grade, more tumor size, advanced stage, and poor prognostic index. In addition, chromosome 17 monosomy and trisomy were observed in 21.6 and 5.4 % of BC patients, respectively. However, the large majority (73 %) of patients had heterogeneous cell populations. Chromosome 17 copy number heterogeneity in cell populations were significantly associated with advanced clinical stage and higher miR-21 expression profile in BC tissues.

Conclusion

Chromosome 17 aneusomy and miR-21 expression are positively correlated and can potentially serve as prognostic markers in BC.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Genetics Unit, Department of Histology and Cell Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University, Circular Road, Ismailia, 41522, Egypt

    Noura Ramadan Abdel-hamid, Eman A. Mohammed & Fouad M. Badr

  2. Department of Plastic Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt

    Ashraf H. Abbas

Authors
  1. Noura Ramadan Abdel-hamid
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  2. Eman A. Mohammed
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  3. Ashraf H. Abbas
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  4. Fouad M. Badr
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Noura Ramadan Abdel-hamid.

Ethics declarations

Ethical approval and informed consent

The Medical Research Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University approved the study (ID No. SRC/ 9/7/2012) and all patients gave written informed consent.

Conflict of interest

All authors (NRA, EAM, AHA, and FMB) declare that there was no conflict of interest. All authors (NRA, EAM, AHA, and FMB) declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be considered as a potential conflict of interest. Furthermore, no authors have any non-financial competing interests.

Funding

All authors (NRA, EAM, AHA, and FMB) declare that no external funding source was received for this work.

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Abdel-hamid, N.R., Mohammed, E.A., Abbas, A.H. et al. MicroRNA-21 Expression in Primary Breast Cancer Tissue Among Egyptian Female Patients and its Correlation with Chromosome 17 Aneusomy. Mol Diagn Ther 19, 365–373 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40291-015-0161-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40291-015-0161-4

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