PIWIL2 and PL2L60 (Cancer/Testis genes) Expression in Breast Cancer

Background: Cancer/testis antigens (CTAs) are members of a group of proteins which are normally expressed in testis germ cells and to a lesser extent in the ovaries. Because of recent reports about their aberrant and specific expression in some tumoral tissues, they may play a role as new candidates for targeted therapy. Therefore, the study of the expression pattern of these biomarkers and its relationship with clinical features of the patients is a subject of great interest. Methods: In this study, expression of PIWIL2 and genes was studied by multiplex RT-PCR in 65 breast tissue samples including 30 invasive ductal carcinomas (IDC), 30 normal adjacent tissue samples and five normal breast tissue samples and 2 normal testicular tissue samples as positive controls. beta actin was considered as internal control. Results: Results of gel electrophoresis analysis demonstrated no significant expression of target genes in any sample except testis. Simultaneously, beta actin was expressed in all the samples. Conclusions: The present study indicates lack of PIWIL2 and PL2L60 expression at mRNA level in breast cancer. Although cell lines can be used in cancer research, they are not representative of tumor tissues. More studies investigating the expression of these genes at protein level will help us decide whether to apply these candidate genes as tumor markers or not.