NOWAC blood-based breast cancer case-control study

Tumor-host interactions extend beyond the local microenvironment and cancer development largely depends on the ability of malignant cells to hijack and exploit the normal physiological processes of the host. Although abnormalities in a host’s systemic immunity are associated with increased cancer susceptibility, the functional interplay between tumor cells and circulating immune cells in regulating tumorigenic responses is unclear. We employed the Norwegian Women and Cancer study, a large prospective population-based cohort study, to identify gene expression changes in blood cells that provide a robust and reproducible diagnostic signal specific to breast cancer patients. We further show that circulating blood cells in breast cancer patients are enriched in genes involved in systemic immunosuppression and the motility, metabolism, growth, and proliferation of immune cells. By mining of the cancer-associated blood transcriptome, we identified immune mediators or biomarkers that could permit early detection of breast cancer and open avenues to novel targeted immunotherapies.EGA study EGAS00000000134