Evaluation of the Expression of the CK-18 Tumor Marker in Blood Samples of Breast Cancer Patients using Real-Time PCR

Background: Cytokeratins (CK) are the largest subgroup of interstitial proteins, and their expression changes during the development of cancer. Cytokeratin (CK-18) is one of the major proteins of the epithelial cell skeleton. The expression potential of the CK-18 gene was studied in this research as a molecular biomarker for the diagnosis of breast cancer in the circulatory system using the Real-Time PCR technique. Methods: Blood samples of breast cancer patients and healthy individuals (as the control group) were collected from the Cancer Institute of Imam Khomeini Hospital, Tehran, Iran and their RNA was extracted. In the next step, the cDNA molecule was synthesized using a reverse transcriptase enzyme (RT), and gene-specific primers were designed and synthesized. Then, the expression of CK-18 tumor marker was evaluated by the real-time PCR technique; finally, the data obtained from the cancer samples and the control group was analyzed by the SPSS software. Results: CK-18 expression was observed and measured in the patients, serum .In addition, according to the disease grade, the CK-18 expression was different in the patients, serum. Conclusions: The findings of this research can be used in future studies exploring the mechanism of action of this gene as a suitable target for the treatment of breast cancer.

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Keywords Circulating tumor cells (CTC) ، Breast cancer ، CK-18 ، tumor marker ، Real-time PCR