Chemokine expressions in breast cancer patients

Our aim was to evaluate the expression of chemokines in breast cancers before treatment to identify a molecular signature that could distinguish between women with or without cancer. We identified a panel of chemokines clearly deregulated in breast cancer that could be further investigated for prospective novel markers or therapeutically approaches. Samples for gene expression were obtained during surgical resection and after macroscopic pathological assessment. Laser-capture microdissection was used to select and procure only the desired cell types (malignant groups of cells or normal mammary acini), under direct microscopic visualization Chemokine expression profiles using cDNA microarray was evaluated on homogenous, laser-capture microdissected breast cancer specimens before treatment.