Evaluation of DKK1 and NANOG Genes Expression as Prognostic Biomarkers in Iranian Women with Breast Cancer

Background: Breast cancer is the second leading cause of death in Iranian women following lung cancer with high morbidity rate among those aged 40-55 years. The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of DKK1 and NANOG genes as prognostic biomarkers in Iranian patients with breast cancer using quantitative Real-Time PCR (RT-qPCR).

Materials and Methods: In this study, 30 clinical specimens from patients with breast cancer and 30 normal adjacent tissues from these patients were collected from Tehran Imam Khomeini Hospital in 2017 and their age ranged from 23 to 83 years (mean, 51.27 years). For evaluation of DKK1 and NANOG genes expression, following the extraction of RNA and cDNA synthesis, the expression of the genes was evaluated using Real-Time PCR.

Results: Two patients (6.6%) were in the first stage, 15 (50%) in the second stage, 11 (36.6%) in the third stage and 2 (6.6%) in the fourth stage of breast cancer. In terms of tissue grade, 4 (13.3%) patients were in Grade 1, 15 (50%) in Grade 2 and 10 (3.33%) were in Grade 3. The results demonstrated that the expression of DKK1gene was10.774 Fold and the expression of NANOG gene was 11.19 Fold higher in patients with breast cancer compared to those genes from normal tissues.

Conclusion: In our study, we used two biomarkers including DKK1 and NANOG genes, both of which appeared as proper biomarkers as their expression was significantly higher for the prognosis of breast cancer among patients. With the development of molecular medical techniques, the use of gene expression biomarkers in the diagnosis and prognosis of various diseases, such as cancers has become increased. By evaluation of the expression of various genes, we can prognosticate the specific types of cancers.