CORRELATION BETWEEN TELOMERASE GENE EXPRESSION AND DIFFERENT STAGES OF BREAST CANCER AND OBESITY

Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women. Obesity is known as a risk factor for breast cancer acting directly on breast cancer by producing adipocytokines. On the other hand, it seems that telomerase activity and especially expression of its catalytic subunit (hTERT) are critical for cancer initiation and development. Objective: To determine the relationship between obesity grades and adipocytokines associated with expression of hTERT gene at different stages of breast cancer. Methods: This was an analytical study carried out on 65 breast cancer patients during 2009-2010. Blood sample and fresh tumour tissue were collected from all patients. Expression of hTERT gene in tumour tissue was evaluated using quantitative real-time PCR and the plasma level of adipocytokines also tested. Findings: Expression of hTERT gene was detected in 53 samples with an expression level which significantly correlated with BMI, stage, and grade of cancer. Also, there was a positive significant correlation between hTERT expression level and leptin level (r=0.484, P=0.008) however, no correlation with other adipocytokines including IL-6 (r=-0.041, P=0.83) and TNF-α (r=-0.059, P=0.76) was observed. Conclusion: Considering the data, it could be concluded that obesity, as the source of leptin, may play a direct role in occurrence and development of breast cancer.