Affiliations: [a] Department of Basic Oncology, Oncology Institute, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey | [b] Department of Medical Oncology, Oncology Institute, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey | [c] Avrasya Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Ugur Gezer, Department of Basic Oncology, Istanbul University Oncology Institute, Turgut Özal Street 14, 34093 Capa, Istanbul, Turkey. Tel.: +90 212 414 2434; Pbx: +90 212 534 8078; E-mail: ugurd@istanbul.edu.tr.
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Novel biomarkers are needed to predict the effectiveness of the treatment of presurgical neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) in breast cancer (BC). OBJECTIVE: This is an exploratory study to assess the impact of 3 cancer-related long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) (H19, MALAT1 and GA5) in blood plasma of patients with BC in predicting the response to NAC. METHODS: The plasma levels of RNAs were relatively measured by quantitative PCR at baseline, and at the end of the fourth cycle of NAC in patients with locally advanced BC. RESULTS: Only H19 was associated with patients’ characteristics, and with the response to NAC. Higher plasma expression of H19 was associated with younger age at diagnosis, triple negative tumors, and Ki-67 index. Patients with a pathological complete response (20%) had lower pre-therapeutic levels of H19 compared with the non-complete responders (relative levels 0.1 vs 0.2, respectively, P: 0.04). In addition, the patients with higher degree of downstaging of initial tumors had lower baseline levels of H19 among non-complete responders. CONCLUSION: Our study reveals that H19, but not MALAT1 and GAS5, may be a useful marker of response to NAC in BC.
Keywords: Breast cancer, neoadjuvant chemotherapy, pathological complete response, long non-coding RNAs, blood plasma
