Expression Analysis of ARMC3, a Testis-Specific Gene, in Breast Cancer Patients

Background: Breast cancer is the most prevalent cancer among women. Biomarkers that are expressed in tumors play a pivotal role in diagnosis and treatment. Cancer-testis (CT) antigens are predominantly expressed in the testis and also have inappropriate expression in various tumor types. In the case of expression in tumors, they will be used as immunotherapy targets. Objectives: Expression of ARMC3, a CT antigen, was analyzed to determine its potential as a tumor marker for breast cancer. Materials and Methods: Eighty samples including 40 tumor samples and 40 normal adjacent tissue samples, were gathered from the ICBC biobank. RNA extraction was carried out on all samples. The extracted RNA was treated by DNaseI, after which cDNA was synthesized. Expression of ARMC3 with ACTB (internal control) was studied using Real-Time PCR (polymerase chain reaction). Results: Overall, 43.6% of tumors and 25.6% of normal adjacent tissues expressed ARMC3. ARMC3 was overexpressed in 41% of tumor samples (P = 0.00) and showed decreased expression in 46.2% (P = 0.00). Also, the expression of this gene in 12.8% of tumors was unchanged, which was statistically significant. It should be noted that all samples expressed ACTB gene. Conclusions: Expression of ARMC3 in tumor samples and normal adjacent tissue is very important. The expression of this gene in tumor-adjacent tissue may be associated with the stage of cancer; it may be that these tissues are affected by epigenetic and oncogenic changes of breast cancer. Accordingly, aberrant expression of ARMC3 in tumor samples may be an attractive candidate for use as a tumor marker.