Introduction: Breast cancer cells and tumor stroma produce different cytokines and soluble factors. Cytokines,while playing crucial roles in immune responses to tumors, also favour tumor growth and progression. IL-7and G-CSF are two cytokines that may exert influences on the pathophysiology of breast cancer. Materials and Methods: Sera were collected from 136 females with breast cancer before receiving chemotherapy or radiotherapy.The control group comprised of 60 healthy age-matched females without any acute or chronic diseases withno family history of breast cancer. Serum levels of IL-7 and G-CSF were measured by commercial enzymelinked immunosorbent assay. Results: While there was no significant difference in the level of G-CSF betweenpatients (92.81±594.54 pg/ml) and controls (0.00 pg/ml), G-CSF level in sera of patients with advanced stagesof breast cancer was elevated compared to early stages (p=0.0001). Moreover, the highest level of G-CSF wasseen in patients with N3 phase tumors (p=0.0001). IL-7 was slightly but not significantly higher in the controlgroup (0.04±0.11 pg/ml) in comparison with patients (0.02±0.10 pg/ml). Interestingly, a significant increase inthe level of IL-7 in patients with skin involvement was observed (p=0.001). Conclusion: Our results showed anelevation of G-CSF in sera of patients with advanced stages of tumor, while IL-7 elevation correlated with skininvolvement of breast cancer. IL-7 can be produced by keratinocytes in skin tissue and may be involved in thepathologic establishment of metastatic tumor cells in skin.
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