Aberrant Expression of Circulating Micro RNA as a Biomarker for Diagnosis of Breast Cancer in Egyptian Females

Breast cancer (BC) is the leading cause of cancer worldwide with estimated 2.3 million new cases and 685000 deaths in 2020. In women, breast cancer accounts for one in 4 cancer cases and one in 6 cancer deaths.

In Egypt, BC is the most common cancer among females accounting for 32.0% of all cancers in women according to the data of the National Cancer Registry Program of Egypt . 22038 Egyptian females breast cancer new cases were estimated to be in 2020 .

The most important risk factors for breast cancer include female gender, age (30 years old and older), positive family history for breast cancer , and familial genetic mutations, including mutations in the breast cancer A1 (BRCA1) and BRCA2 genes. Furthermore, women with a history of breast cancer are more likely (20-25%) to develop microscopic cancer in the opposite breast. A positive history for cancer in the endometrium, ovaries, or colon, as well as radiation therapy for Hodgkin's lymphoma, was shown to increase the risk of breast cancer.

The gold standard for diagnosis of breast cancer is histopathology. Several tumor markers have been suggested for the evaluation and management of breast cancer including estrogen and progesterone receptors (ER/PR), which are used for the assessment of susceptibility to hormone treatment, and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), which is used to assess the susceptibility to trastuzumab treatment.

With the rapid development of medical technology, strategies such as surgery, medication and radiotherapy can help a lot to reduce mortality rate. Though clinical intervention at early stage can greatly improve prognosis, many BC patients are asymptomatic until disease progression.