Research and Development Department, Biotechnology Research Center, New Damietta, Egypt.
Surgical Oncology Department, Mansoura Oncology Centre, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt.
Breast Cancer. 2024 Jan;31(1):116-123. doi: 10.1007/s12282-023-01519-5. Epub 2023 Nov 16.
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) was reported to relate to polymorphous and frequent extrahepatic manifestation. Despite the limited studies, HCV viral oncoproteins may be implicated in breast cancer (BC) tumor aggressiveness. In a trial to elucidate a mechanistic link, this study aimed to investigate a mutant p53 and c-Myc oncoprotein expression levels in BC patients with and without HCV infection.
A total of 215 BC patients (119 infected and 96 non-infected with HCV) were collected. ELISA was used for detection of anti-HCV antibodies, mutant p53, c-Myc, HCV-NS4, CEA, CA 125, and CA-15.3.
HCV infection was related to BC late stages, lymph-node invasion, distant metastasis, high grades, and large size. HCV-infected patients had a significantly (P < 0.05) higher WBCs, ALT and AST activity, bilirubin CEA, CA125 and CA15.3 levels, and reduced hemoglobin, albumin, and RBCs count. Regardless of tumor severity, HCV infection was associated with significant elevated levels of mutant p53 (22.5 ± 3.5 µg/mL; 1.9-fold increase) and c-Myc (21.4 ± 1.8 µg/mL; 1.5-fold increase). Among HCV-infected patients, elevated levels of p53 and c-Myc were significantly correlated with elevated tumor markers (CEA, CA 125, and CA15.3) and HCV-NS4 levels.
This study concluded that HCV infection may be accompanied with BC severity behavior and this may be owing to elevated expression of mutant p53 and c-Myc oncoproteins.
丙型肝炎病毒（HCV）被报道与多形性和频繁的肝外表现有关。尽管研究有限，但 HCV 病毒癌蛋白可能与乳腺癌（BC）肿瘤侵袭性有关。在一项旨在阐明机制联系的试验中，本研究旨在调查 HCV 感染的 BC 患者和非 HCV 感染的 BC 患者中突变型 p53 和 c-Myc 癌蛋白的表达水平。
共收集了 215 例 BC 患者（119 例 HCV 感染和 96 例非 HCV 感染）。采用 ELISA 法检测抗 HCV 抗体、突变型 p53、c-Myc、HCV-NS4、CEA、CA125 和 CA-15.3。
HCV 感染与 BC 晚期、淋巴结浸润、远处转移、高分级和大肿瘤大小有关。HCV 感染患者的白细胞计数（WBC）、ALT 和 AST 活性、胆红素、CEA、CA125 和 CA15.3 水平显著升高（P<0.05），血红蛋白、白蛋白和 RBC 计数显著降低。无论肿瘤严重程度如何，HCV 感染均与突变型 p53（22.5±3.5µg/mL；增加 1.9 倍）和 c-Myc（21.4±1.8µg/mL；增加 1.5 倍）水平显著升高相关。在 HCV 感染患者中，p53 和 c-Myc 水平升高与肿瘤标志物（CEA、CA125 和 CA15.3）和 HCV-NS4 水平升高显著相关。
本研究表明，HCV 感染可能伴有 BC 严重程度的行为，这可能是由于突变型 p53 和 c-Myc 癌蛋白表达升高所致。
