Background and AimThe role of the metabolic syndrome in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has been previously reported. This study aims to investigate the possible role of vitamin D3, Zinc, Parathyroid hormone (PTH), calcium and phosphorus serum levels as non-traditional metabolic risk factors in HCV-related HCC.MethodThis cross-sectional observational study recruited HCV infected patients with and without HCC. All patients were subjected to demographic, biochemical, and hematological assessment. Serum levels of vitamin D3, Zinc, PTH, calcium, and phosphorus were determined in all the study participants.ResultsThis study includes 50 patients with HCV-related HCC compared to 40 patients with HCV-related liver cirrhosis and 30 patients with HCV chronic hepatitis C (CHC) without HCC. Our results show significantly higher age, male sex, aspartate transaminase (AST), PTH and corrected serum calcium levels in the HCC patients compared to values in the other two groups, (p < 0.001); while significant lower vitamin D3 and zinc levels were detected among the HCC patients compared to patients with non-HCC liver cirrhosis and CHC, (p < 0.001).Vitamin D3 deficiency was detected in 96% of the HCC patients, while it was detected in only 22.5% of the cirrhotic patients and in none of the CHC patients, (p < 0.001). However, on multiple stepwise regression analysis, only the age, AST, PTH, and corrected calcium levels were the independent predictors for HCC when studied in relation to chronic liver disease.ConclusionThis study indicates the prevalent deficient levels of vitamin D3 and zinc in HCC patients; however, a causal relationship is not established in this study.

Introduction: Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women and the world’s second leading cause of death in women, after lung cancer. Calreticulin (CRT), an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) multipurpose protein, has been proposed as a potential biomarker for breast cancer. However, reports on the correlation between CRT expression and cell invasiveness in breast cancer micro-tissues are scarce. Thus, in the current study, we analyzed the potential correlation between CRT and invasiveness of breast cancer in a biological scaffold-based 3D co-culture system. Methods: MCF7, MDA-MB-231 and MCF-10A breast cell lines were co-cultured in a 3-dimensional (3D) system with MRC-5 lung fibroblast cell line in the cell density ratio of 3:1. Thereafter, calreticulin gene and protein expression levels were determined based on quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and immunohistochemistry, respectively. Moreover, via RT-qPCR analysis, the gene expression levels of calreticulin-related candidate metastasis genes in breast cancer micro-tissues were carried out. Results: The results showed occasional foci of lumen-like morphology in the non-cancerous breast micro-tissues and the formation of solid clusters for breast cancer micro-tissues. Moreover, immunohistochemistry results revealed protein expression of calreticulin in non-cancerous and cancerous breast micro-tissues with cytoplasmic and nucleic acid localizations. It was found that PCMT1 and ER-α genes were significantly downregulated (p < 0.01) in invasive breast cancer micro-tissues. Conclusion: This study suggests that CRT and CRT-related candidate metastasis genes may potentially serve as prognostic biomarkers in invasive breast carcinoma.

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