National Liver Institute, Menoufia University, Menoufia, Egypt.
Baheya Centre for Early Detection and Treatment of Breast Cancer, Giza, Egypt.
Cancer Control. 2023 Jan-Dec;30:10732748231204755. doi: 10.1177/10732748231204755.
Toll-like receptors (TLRs) play an important role in regulation of immune cells and are vital in tumorigenesis due to its crucial role in inflammatory microenvironment regulation, as they promote the synthesis and release of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines. Toll-like receptors 4 and TLRs 9 were found to be highly expressed in breast cancer. The aim of this study is to investigate the soluble toll-like receptors 4 and 9 (sTLR4 and sTLR9) as potential biomarkers for diagnosis and prognosis of breast cancer and their association with the clinicopathological parameters of breast cancer.
In this retrospective case-control study, 186 female subjects were recruited and divided into three groups, Group I: 62 healthy control, Group II: 62 subjects diagnosed with non-metastatic breast cancer, and Group III: 62 subjects diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique was used to quantify the levels of sTLR4 and sTLR9 in serum.
Both non-metastatic and metastatic groups showed significant higher levels of both serum sTLR4 and sTLR9 expression compared to healthy controls. Only sTLR9 was significantly increased among metastatic patients compared to non-metastatic group. Serum levels of sTLR9 and sTLR4 were still significantly associated with breast cancer in a multiple logistic regression model ( = <.001). ROC curves showed that both sTLR4 and sTLR9 can be a significant parameter to discriminate between normal females and breast cancer patients.
Soluble toll-like receptors 4 and sTLR9 are over-expressed in patients with metastatic and non-metastatic BC than in benign cases. The expression levels of sTLR4 and TLR9 have clinical interest as indicators of tumor aggressiveness suggested to be prognostic biomarkers. Toll-like receptors may represent therapeutic targets in breast cancer.
Toll 样受体 (TLRs) 在免疫细胞调节中发挥重要作用，由于其在炎症微环境调节中的关键作用，在肿瘤发生中至关重要，因为它促进炎症细胞因子和趋化因子的合成和释放。研究发现，Toll 样受体 4 和 TLRs 9 在乳腺癌中高表达。本研究旨在探讨可溶性 Toll 样受体 4 和 9（sTLR4 和 sTLR9）作为乳腺癌诊断和预后的潜在生物标志物及其与乳腺癌临床病理参数的关系。
在这项回顾性病例对照研究中，招募了 186 名女性受试者，并将其分为三组，I 组：62 名健康对照者，II 组：62 名诊断为非转移性乳腺癌患者，III 组：62 名诊断为转移性乳腺癌患者。采用酶联免疫吸附试验 (ELISA) 技术检测血清中 sTLR4 和 sTLR9 的水平。
非转移性和转移性组的血清 sTLR4 和 sTLR9 表达水平均显著高于健康对照组。与非转移性组相比，转移性组患者的 sTLR9 水平显著升高。在多因素逻辑回归模型中，血清 sTLR9 和 sTLR4 水平仍与乳腺癌显著相关（ = <.001）。ROC 曲线表明，sTLR4 和 sTLR9 均可作为区分正常女性和乳腺癌患者的重要参数。
可溶性 Toll 样受体 4 和 sTLR9 在转移性和非转移性 BC 患者中的表达高于良性病例。sTLR4 和 TLR9 的表达水平作为肿瘤侵袭性的指标具有临床意义，可能是预后生物标志物。Toll 样受体可能成为乳腺癌的治疗靶点。
