Breast cancer is one of the most feared human illnesses. RANTES (regulated upon
activation normal T cells expressed and secreted), is a chemokine which is produced
by several tumor cells including breast cancer cells. IL-8 is a member of the CXC
chemokine family. A tumor promoting role of IL-8 has been proposed in a wide
variety of human solid tumors including breast cancer. The aim of the present work is
to estimate levels of RANTES and IL-8 in breast cancer patients with and without
distant metastasis and to correlate their levels in liver and other organs with
metastasis to those without metastasis and healthy controls. The study was carried
out on 70 subjects, they were divided into 3 groups: group A (25 breast cancer
patients without distant metastasis), group B (25 breast cancer patients with distant
metastasis) and group C (20 healthy controls). All subjects were submitted to full
history taking, clinical, radiological examinations and measurements of serum
RANTES and IL-8. Regarding RANTES, the results showed, a significant difference
between control group and group A and also between control group and group B (P<
0.001), while there was no significant difference between group A and group B
(P>0.05). In group A and B, RANTES showed no significant difference between those
with loco regional lymph nodes and liver metastasis when compared with those
without loco regional lymph nodes and liver metastasis respectively. On the other
hand, IL-8 showed a significant difference between control group and group A,
between control group and group B and also between group A and group B
(P<0.001). In group B, the mean value of IL-8 among those with liver metastasis was
significantly higher than those without liver metastasis. Similarly, in group A, in
patients with loco regional lymph nodes metastasis when compared to patients
without loco regional lymph node metastasis. Conclusion: IL-8 may be a useful
marker in monitoring metastatic breast cancer and with other tumor markers as CEA
and CA15-3 it can be a useful indicator of metastatic breast cancer, while RANTES
can't be used in monitoring breast cancer progression and degree of metastasis,
possibly because of its increase in other malignancies and inflammatory diseases.