Open Access

Herpesvirus entry mediator as a potential biomarker in breast cancer compared with conventional cytotoxic T‑lymphocyte‑associated antigen 4

  • Authors:
    • Alia Aldahlawi
    • Fatemah Basingab
    • Jehan Alrahimi
    • Kawther Zaher
    • Peter Natesan Pushparaj
    • Mohammed A. Hassan
    • Kaltoom Al‑Sakkaf
  • View Affiliations

  • Published online on: July 17, 2023     https://doi.org/10.3892/br.2023.1638
  • Article Number: 56
  • Copyright: © Aldahlawi et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License.

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Abstract

Breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer in women worldwide, with 2.3 million cases recorded in 2020. Despite improvements in cancer treatment, patients with BC still succumb to the disease, due to regional and distant metastases when diagnosed at later stages. Several immune checkpoint inhibitors have been approved for BC treatment, based on their expression and role in maintaining immunosurveillance against tumors. The present study aimed to evaluate the expression of 12 immune checkpoints in patients with BC, and assess their role as diagnostic and therapeutic markers. Expression levels were measured using reverse transcription‑quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Among the 12 immune markers, herpesvirus entry mediator (HVEM) was found to be significantly upregulated in patients with malignant BC compared to non‑malignant controls, with a relative fold change (FC) of 1.46 and P=0.012. A similar finding was observed for cytotoxic T‑lymphocyte‑associated antigen 4 (CTLA4; FC=1.47 and P=0.035). In addition, receiver operating characteristic curve analysis revealed that HVEM expression allowed significant differentiation between groups, with an area under the curve of 0.74 (P=0.013). Upregulation in both HVEM and CTLA4 was revealed to be significantly associated with the human epidermal growth factor receptor‑2 (HER2)‑enriched phenotype (FC=3.53, P=0.009 and FC=5.98, P=0.002, respectively), while only HVEM was significantly associated with the triple‑negative phenotype (FC=2.07, P=0.016). Furthermore, HVEM was significantly higher in patients with grade III tumors (FC=1.88, P=0.025) and negative vascular invasion (FC=1.67, P=0.046) compared with non‑malignant controls. Serum protein levels were assessed by multiplex immunoassay, and a significant increase in HVEM was detected in patients with malignant BC compared with that in non‑malignant controls (P=0.035). These data indicated that HVEM may serve as a potential biomarker and target for immunotherapy, especially for certain types of BC.
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August-2023
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Spandidos Publications style
Aldahlawi A, Basingab F, Alrahimi J, Zaher K, Pushparaj PN, Hassan MA and Al‑Sakkaf K: Herpesvirus entry mediator as a potential biomarker in breast cancer compared with conventional cytotoxic T‑lymphocyte‑associated antigen 4. Biomed Rep 19: 56, 2023.
APA
Aldahlawi, A., Basingab, F., Alrahimi, J., Zaher, K., Pushparaj, P.N., Hassan, M.A., & Al‑Sakkaf, K. (2023). Herpesvirus entry mediator as a potential biomarker in breast cancer compared with conventional cytotoxic T‑lymphocyte‑associated antigen 4. Biomedical Reports, 19, 56. https://doi.org/10.3892/br.2023.1638
MLA
Aldahlawi, A., Basingab, F., Alrahimi, J., Zaher, K., Pushparaj, P. N., Hassan, M. A., Al‑Sakkaf, K."Herpesvirus entry mediator as a potential biomarker in breast cancer compared with conventional cytotoxic T‑lymphocyte‑associated antigen 4". Biomedical Reports 19.2 (2023): 56.
Chicago
Aldahlawi, A., Basingab, F., Alrahimi, J., Zaher, K., Pushparaj, P. N., Hassan, M. A., Al‑Sakkaf, K."Herpesvirus entry mediator as a potential biomarker in breast cancer compared with conventional cytotoxic T‑lymphocyte‑associated antigen 4". Biomedical Reports 19, no. 2 (2023): 56. https://doi.org/10.3892/br.2023.1638