Many tumor cells express chemokines and chemokine receptors, and these molecules can contribute to distinct modes of metastasis processes. It is known that they play a crucial role in breast cancer (BC) tumorigenesis and progression. Considering this, it was investigated a possible role for C-Chemokine receptor type 5(CCR5) polymorphism (rs333/delta32) by conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and CCL5 (C-C motif chemokine ligand 5) protein level by immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 47 BC patients (resulting in 47 tumoral tissue samples and 47 adjacent normal tissue samples). There was a significant difference between CCL5 level in tumoral and adjacent normal tissues for the same BC patients (p < 0.0001). A significant association was also found for CCL5 level in relation to lymph nodes commitment (p = 0.03). Likewise, there was a significant difference in CCL5 level from tumor tissue of stage III in relation to stage I (p < 0.02). On the other hand, it was verified that CCR5-delta32 polymorphism presented no significant association in relation to CCL5 protein level. Considering the present findings, we suggest that CCL5 may be involved in BC staging and metastasis process.
Keywords: Breast cancer; CCL5; CCR5; ELISA; Polymorphism; Tumoral stages.