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Aromatase (CYP19) expression in tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and blood mononuclears
L M Berstein1, A A Larionov, T E Poroshina
1Lab. of Oncoendocrinology, Prof. N.N. Petrov Research Institute of Oncology, St. Petersburg, Russia. levmb@endocrin.spb.ru
Purpose:
To clarify the role of lymphocytes as a possible source of estrogens.
Methods:
In the present study, lymphocytes were isolated from 11 surgical samples of breast cancer after tumor enzyme digestion and Ficoll/Verographine procedure. Simultaneously, using the latter procedure, mononuclears were separated from the blood of 15 female volunteers.
Results:
Expression of the aromatase (CYP19) gene was readily demonstrated by standard RT-PCR in blood mononuclears cultivated in the presence of 10% fetal calf serum for 48 h. In the tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) of breast cancer patients, CYP19 expression was discovered only with the aid of nested PCR.
Conclusions:
The data obtained suggest that aromatase gene expression is presented in TIL at a rather low level. Nevertheless, this can have some functional significance for the estrogen-dependent growth of breast cancer tissue.
