Introduction  

Breast cancer is one of the most common neoplasms in women and is a leading cause of cancer related deaths worldwide. Chemokines and their receptors are involved in the control of lymphocyte traffic, a critical component of systemic immunity. CXCR4 mRNA could be involved in the development of variety of diseases. Lipid peroxidation, the result of nonenzymatic autooxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids, presents numerous harmful effects on biological systems and has been implicated in diseases like cancer. This study examined CXCR4 mRNA expression in peripheral blood cells and malondialdehyde (MDA) in plasma from blood donors and breast cancer patients.

Materials and methods  

CXCR4 expression in peripheral blood cells from 59 breast cancer patients and 76 healthy blood donors was analyzed by real-time PCR. Plasma MDA was analyzed using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).

Conclusion  

In all stages, MDA levels in total breast cancer patients (1.41 ± 0.11) were significantly higher (P < 0.01) than those in healthy subjects (0.34 ± 0.03). No statistically significant difference occurred between CXCR4 expression in peripheral blood cells from breast cancer patients (1.69 ± 1.05) and the normal healthy control group (1.8 ± 0.65). However, stage II samples differed statistically (4.3 ± 1.72) from control, total cancer patients and stages I, III and IV samples.