Expression profile of interleukin-6, 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal, and hypoxia-inducible factor 1-α in women with breast cancer and their association with clinicopathological parameters

INTRODUCTION: Breast cancer (BC) is the most common malignancy in women worldwide, representing a major public health burden. Therefore, there is a need to identify circulating biomarkers for the early detection of BC and to facilitate the diagnosis. Interleukin-6 (IL-6), 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (4-HNE), and hypoxia-inducible factor 1-α (HIF-1α) are biomarkers involved in the initiation and progression of this disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate the concentrations of these molecules and to find a possible correlation with the clinicopathological parameters of patients with BC from western Algeria. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We evaluated the serum levels of IL-6, 4-HNE, and HIF-1α by ELISA technique and compare them in different age groups and BC molecular subtypes, and then correlated them with clinicopathological parameters. RESULTS: Our study revealed a significant increase in 4-HNE (p < 0.05), and a negative correlation (p < 0.05) was found between IL-6 serum levels and lymph node count, but not (p > 0.05) between 4-HNE, HIF-1α and lymph node count. No significant correlation (p > 0.05) was found between IL-6, 4-HNE, HIF-1α , and Scarff-Bloom-Richardson grade. Furthermore, there was no significant difference (p > 0.05) in serum levels of IL-6, 4-HNE, and HIF-1α in the different age groups and molecular subtypes of BC. CONCLUSIONS: The data obtained show that the presence of lipid peroxidation (4-HNE) is a marker of oxidative stress, and that IL-6 is a good prognostic factor due to its negative effect on the number of lymph nodes. Furthermore, age and BC molecular subtypes do not influence the serum concentrations of IL-6,4-HNE, and HIF-1α.