Absence of Cytomegalovirus in Women with breast cancer in Tabriz

Background and Aim : The role of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) in breast cancer is controversial. The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of the immediate-early antigen (IE) of HCMV in tissue blocks in a group of women with breast cancer in Tabriz.Methods : ۸۰ Formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue blocks of breast cancer and ۸۰ non-cancerous breast tissues were obtained from the pathology laboratory in Tabriz. After the Deparaffinization and DNA extraction, the IE-antigen of HCMVgenome was used as the primer for the detection of HCMV in all samples by PCR.Results : In our study, ۶۶.۳% of all cases and ۸۲.۸% of the controls were under ۵۰ years of age. Fibrocystic lesions (۷۱.۳%) and grade II invasive ductal carcinoma (۵۷.۵%) were the most common in the control and case groups, respectively. All of ۸۰ breast cancer samples and all non- cancerous samples were negative for the IE – antigen of HCMV gene.Conclusion : No relationship was seen between breast cancer and HCMV in this study. However, the controversy on the role of HCMV in breast cancer still remains.

Keywords:

Breast cancer , FFPE , Human cytomegalovirus , immediate early antigen , Tabriz