Evaluation of Salivary Level of Heat Shock Protein 70 in Patients with Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed among women worldwide. Increased molecular and genetic information about cancer has improved diagnostic, screening, and treatment methods for cancer. Heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) is overexpressed in breast cancer patients and involved in malignant properties of breast cancer. Due to the noninvasive nature of saliva collection and the fact that no study has been performed on salivary HSP70 levels in patients with breast cancer, the aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic value of salivary HSP70 in these patients.

Saliva samples from 45 patients with breast cancer and 45 age-matched healthy subjects were collected. Salivary HSP70 was measured with the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method. The results were analyzed using a Mann-Whitney test. The sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic value of this protein were evaluated through the ROC curve and cutoff point determination. The software used in this study was SPSS 25, and a P value of less than 0.05 was considered significant.

The mean salivary HSP70 level was 15.41 ± 8.82 ng/ml in patients compared with 15.03 ± 6.28 ng/ml in the control group (P > 0.05). Also, the area under the ROC curve was 0.497.

The results showed that salivary HSP70 levels were not significantly different between patients with breast cancer and healthy individuals, and according to the ROC curve, the salivary level of this protein has no diagnostic value in these patients.