Correlation of Heat Shock Protein 90 with Nuclear Factor Kappa-B and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor in Breast Cancer Patients

Abstract Objective: To assess the activation of the HSP90 NF-κB- system by measuring serum levels in patients- with breast cancer and to find out the correlation of Heat Shock Protein 90 (HSP90) with Nuclear Factor kappa- B (NF-κB) and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) in women with breast cancer. Methodology: Seventy-five histologically diagnosed females with breast cancer alongwith 75 age matched healthy controls were included in the study. Serum levels of HSP 90, NF-κB and VEGF were estimated by ELISA. Results: Serum levels of HSP90, NF-κB and VEGF were significantly increased in patients compared to controls (p = 0.039, 0.037, 0.018 respectively). HSP 90 showed strong positive correlation with nuclear factor kB. (r=0.61) and moderate positive correlation with VEGF (r=0.45) . Conclusion: The increase levels of HSP 90, NF-κB and VEGF in breast cancer patients implicate their role in advancement of breast cancer and their inhibitors can act as potential therapy targets against breast cancer. Key Words: Breast Cancer, Chaperones, NF-κB and VEGF