SEMA4C as a Relapse Biomarker in Breast Cancer

Breast cancer remains the most common cancer in women worldwide, with approximately 1.68 million new cases, and 0.52 million deaths, annually. Meanwhile the incidence of breast cancer continues to increase. Although regular clinical examination, mammography, ultrasonography, and magnetic resonance imaging can detect some recurrence patients, the lack of robust biomarkers for monitoring of anti-tumor therapies and detection of recurrence reduce the treatment effectiveness of current strategies for breast cancer. Semaphorin4C (SEMA4C) has been previously identified as a highly expressed protein by breast cancer-associated lymphatic endothelial cells (LECs) using in situ laser capture microdissection of lymphatic vessels, followed by cDNA microarray analysis. Moreover, membrane-bound SEMA4C is cleaved by matrix metalloproteinase (MMPs) to release a soluble form of this protein. The study is undertaken to explore SEMA4C's potential role as an early relapse biomarker in breast cancer.