Dados do Resumo

Título

Cancer and Pregnancy: Evaluation of Glycolytic and Oxidative Metabolism in the Chorionic Villi of Placentas from Breast Cancer Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy Treatment

Introdução

Breast cancer is the most common among women, and there has been an increase in diagnoses among younger women, including during pregnancy. Breast cancer during pregnancy (PrBC) associated with chemotherapy can lead to alterations in the placenta leading to intrauterine growth restriction and preterm birth. Despite the fundamental role that placenta has in the context of pregnancy, little is known about molecular mechanisms that are altered when associated with breast cancer and chemotherapy.

Objetivo

Therefore, the aim is evaluating molecular changes in pathways related to oxidative and glycolytic metabolism in the placenta of patients with PrBC and chemotherapy treatment.

Métodos

Placentas from patients with PrBC who received chemotherapy treatment (case group, N=8) and from patients with normal-risk pregnancies (control group, N=8) were obtained from the Center for Integral Attention to Women’s Health biobank (CAAE: 65070122.0.0000.5404). Total RNA was extracted from the chorionic villi region of the placenta for subsequent cDNA synthesis. The GLUT1, HK1, HIF1A, COX5A and TFAM gene expressions were analysed by RT-qPCR, normalised considering the expression of the YWHAZ gene and calculated by applying the arithmetic formula 2-ΔΔCt. Data were expressed as mean ± standard deviation and analysed Student’s t-test or Mann-Whitney. P-values below 0.05 were considered significant.

Resultados

In the clinical and tumour aspects, the age of the patients in the case group was higher than the patients in the control group (33.50 ± 7.04 versus 26.88 ± 4.54, P= 0.049). Additionally, the weight of the placenta was lower in patients in the case group compared to the control group (463.43 ± 156.11 versus 682.86 ± 138.62, P= 0.017). The most frequent subtypes of invasive breast carcinoma were luminal B (28.6%), Her-2 (28.6%), and triple-negative (28.6%). Chemotherapy (57.1%) was the main therapeutic approach, with treatments based on cycles of doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide (33.3%), doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, and paclitaxel (33.3%). In the molecular analysis, the expressions of GLUT1 (3.09 ± 2.78 versus 1.89 ± 2.06, P= 0.321), HK1 (2.14 ± 2.32 versus 2.23 ± 2.38, P= 0.606), HIF1A (1.82 ± 1.16 versus 1.86 ± 2.20, P= 0.541), COX5A (1.78 ± 1.42 versus 1.28 ± 1.21, P= 0.458) and TFAM (1.76 ± 1.32 versus 1.31 ± 0.83, P= 0.412) genes were similar in both groups.

Conclusões

Our preliminary results indicate no difference in glycolytic and oxidative metabolism in the chorionic villi of placentas from PrBC undergoing chemotherapy treatment. However, further studies are necessary to assess the role of glycolytic and oxidative metabolism in the placenta of patients with PrBC.

Financiador do resumo

FAPESP (2023/09681-2; 2021/08931-0)

Palavras Chave

Breast cancer; pregnancy; chemotherapy