CYP19A1 gene expression in the peripheral blood of Brazilian women with breast cancer relapse

Maria Da Conceição Barros-Oliveira,Rozirene Araújo Silva,Danylo Rafhael Costa-Silva,Paulo De Tarso Moura-Borges,Alesse Ribeiro Dos Santos,Fidelis Manes Neto,Ione Maria Ribeiro Soares-Lopes,Emerson Brandão Sousa,Larysse Cardoso Campos-Verdes,Maria Do Socorro Pires E Cruz,Benedito Borges Da Silva,Luiz Henrique Gebrim,Jackeline Lopes Viana,André Luiz Pinho-Sobral,Pedro Vitor Lopes-Costa,Mariella De Almeida Melo,Vladimir Costa-Silva,Eid Gonçalves Coelho,Renato De Oliveira Pereira

doi:10.1186/s12885-020-06978-z

Maria Da Conceição Barros-Oliveira, Rozirene Araújo Silva + Show 17 more

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https://doi.org/10.1186/s12885-020-06978-z

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Abstract

BackgroundThe CYP19A1 gene, which encodes the enzyme responsible for androgen aromatization into estrogens, may play an important role in breast cancer aggressiveness. However, no study has evaluated CYP19A1 gene expression in the peripheral blood of women with relapsed breast cancer.MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, CYP19A1 gene expression was quantified by RT-PCR in the peripheral blood of 146 women with breast cancer who were first divided into two groups according to the expression of CYP19A1 (low and high); each group had 73 patients. Subsequently, women were divided into two groups: those without recurrence (control, n = 85) and those with recurrence (study, n = 61). Statistical analysis of the data was performed using ANOVA, the Mann-Whitney, Chi-square or Fisher’s exact test (p < 0.05).ResultsThere were no significant differences between the relative expression of CYP19A1 mRNA in the low expression group and the high expression group according to the variables studied. There were no significant differences in CYP19A1 gene expression in the study and control groups (p = 0.8461). In the relapse group, CYP19A1 gene expression was significantly higher in the hybrid luminal subtype than in the triple-negative subtype (p = 0.0321), whereas it was significantly lower in HER2-negative cases than in HER2-positive cases (p < 0.0376). Women with locoregional recurrence showed higher expression than women with distant recurrence (p < 0.0001).ConclusionsThe present study found no significant differences between women with high and low expression of the CYP19A1 gene mRNA or between those in the study group and the control group. However, in women with recurrence, there was increased expression of CYP19A1 mRNA in those who had the luminal hybrid subtype and locoregional relapse and decreased expression in those negative for HER2.

Highlights

The CYP19A1 gene, which encodes the enzyme responsible for androgen aromatization into estrogens, may play an important role in breast cancer aggressiveness
Correlations between CYP19A1 mRNA levels and histopathologic features Using the median as the cut-off point, the patients were divided in low expression group and high expression group of CYP19A1
There were no significant differences between the relative expression of CYP19A1 mRNA in the low expression group and the high expression group according to the variables studied (Table 1)

Summary

Introduction

The CYP19A1 gene, which encodes the enzyme responsible for androgen aromatization into estrogens, may play an important role in breast cancer aggressiveness. It has been suggested that the most appropriate therapeutic and prognostic strategies for breast cancer may be developed using genes that are associated with the development, growth and aggressiveness of breast cancer as biomarkers [9, 10]. This includes the CYP19A1 gene that encodes the aromatase enzyme, which is involved in estrogen biosynthesis, as it promotes androgen aromatization in estrogens [11, 12]. In breast cancer, an exchange between the I.4 and I.3 promoters and the I.7 and II promoters occurs, leading to increased production of aromatase and local estrogen [15, 16]

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