Detection of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Messenger RNA (VEGF mRNA), Cytokeratin-19 mRNA (CK19 mRNA), and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) Protein Biomarker in the Peripheral Blood of Patients with Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is a multifactorial potentially lethal disease that is triggered by genetic factors as well as numerous environmental factors. The present research aimed to examine the expression of Vascular endothelial growth factor messenger RNA (VEGF mRNA), cytokeratin-19 mRNA (CK19 mRNA), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) protein biomarker in the peripheral blood of patients with breast cancer.
40 patients with breast cancer were compared to 40 healthy individuals. The real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (real-time RT-PCR) method was used to determine the expressions of the CK19 mRNA and VEGF mRNA biomarkers in the peripheral blood samples of the healthy participants and the patients. The VEGF protein was also compared using the (ELISA) method.
Findings: The positive VEGF mRNA biomarker was observed in 30 of the 40 patients with breast cancer; thus the sensitivity of this marker was 75%. In the healthy participants group, 6 of the 40 participants showed a positive VEGF mRNA biomarker expression. The CK19 mRNA marker was positive in 25 of the 40 patients, which indicated a sensitivity of 62.5%. In the healthy participants group, the positive expression of the CK19 mRNA biomarker was observed in 7 of the 40 participants. VEGF was positive in 27 of the 40 patients. In the control group, 5 of the 40 participants showed the positive expression of this biomarker.
In sum, based on the results of this research, the assessed breast cancer tumor markers can be used as screening tests for the early diagnosis of patients. To further prove the findings of this study, more extensive studies with larger sample sizes are recommended.