title: Inflammatory breast cancer in north Africa: comparison of clinical and molecular epidemiologic characteristics of patients from Egypt, Tunisia, and Morocco.
abstract: Understanding molecular characteristics that distinguish inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) from non-IBC is crucial for elucidating breast cancer etiology and management. We included 3 sets of patients from Egypt (48 IBC and 64 non-IBC), Tunisia (24 IBC and 40 non-IBC), and Morocco (42 IBC and 41 non-IBC). Egyptian IBC patients had the highest combined erythema, edema, peau d'orange, and metastasis among the 3 IBC groups. Egyptian IBC tumors had the highest RhoC expression than Tunisians and Moroccan IBCs (87% vs. 50%, vs. 38.1, for the 3 countries, respectively). Tumor emboli were more frequent in Egyptian IBC than non-IBC (Mean ± SD: 14.1 ± 14.0 vs. 7.0 ± 12.9, respectively) (P < 0.001) and Tunisians (Mean ± SD: 3.4 ± 2.5 vs. 1.9 ± 2.0, respectively) (P < 0.01). There was no difference of emboli in Moroccan tumors (1.7 ± 1.2 vs. 1.8 ± 1.2 for IBC and non-IBC, respectively (P=0.66). This study illustrates that RhoC overexpression and tumor emboli are more frequent in IBC relative to non-IBC from Egypt and Tunisia. Tumors of Moroccans were significantly different from Egyptian and Tunisian tumors for RhoC expression and emboli. Future studies should focus on relating epidemiologic factors and clinical pictures to molecular features of IBC in these and other populations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI 68198-4395, USA. amr.soliman@unmc.edu
authors.forename: Amr S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Soliman
authors.forename: Celina G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Kleer
authors.forename: Karima
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mrad
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Karkouri
authors.forename: Sherif
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Omar
authors.forename: Hussein M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Khaled
authors.forename: Abdel-Latif
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Benider
authors.forename: Farhat Ben
authors.initials: FB
authors.lastname: Ayed
authors.forename: Saad S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Eissa
authors.forename: Mohab S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Eissa
authors.forename: Erin J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: McSpadden
authors.forename: An-Chi
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Lo
authors.forename: Kathy
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Toy
authors.forename: Elizabeth D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Kantor
authors.forename: Quin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.forename: Claire
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hampton
authors.forename: Sofia D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Merajver
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D004534:Egypt; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D058922:Inflammatory Breast Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D009018:Morocco; D009360:Neoplastic Cells, Circulating; D014416:Tunisia; D020741:rho GTP-Binding Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D000075024:rhoC GTP-Binding Protein
chemical_list: C066690:RHOC protein, human; D020741:rho GTP-Binding Proteins; D000075024:rhoC GTP-Binding Protein