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Alterations of gene expression in blood cells associated with chronic fatigue in breast cancer survivors

The Pharmacogenomics Journal volume 9, pages 333–340 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

Fatigue is one of the most frequent complaints among breast cancer survivors. However, mechanisms underlying persisting fatigue after end of treatment are poorly understood. To explore whether biological processes underlying persistent fatigue can affect gene expression of blood cells, genome-wide expression analyses were performed on whole blood samples from breast cancer survivors classified as chronic fatigued 2–6 years after diagnosis. Non-fatigued survivors served as controls. Several gene sets involved in plasma- and B-cell pathways differed between the chronic fatigued and the non-fatigued, suggesting that a dysregulation in these pathways is associated with chronic fatigue and that a B-cell-mediated inflammatory process might underlie fatigue. The chronic fatigued also had a higher level of leucocytes, lymphocytes and neutrophiles compared with the non-fatigued, thus further indicating that an activation of the immune system plays a role in the biology of chronic fatigue in breast cancer survivors.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grants from the South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority (SE-NRH) (Grant number 6051-10920-39119); H Landmark-Høyvik is a research fellow at SE-NRH, and The Norwegian Cancer Society's Pink Ribbon foundation (Grant number 6260-10920-33141). We thank Caroline Frøyland for her technical assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Genetics, Institute for Cancer Research, Norwegian Radium Hospital, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway

    H Landmark-Høyvik, A L Børresen-Dale & V Dumeaux

  2. Faculty division, Faculty of Medicine, The Norwegian Radium Hospital, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    H Landmark-Høyvik & A L Børresen-Dale

  3. Department of Clinical Cancer research, Norwegian Radium Hospital, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway

    K V Reinertsen, J H Loge & S D Fosså

  4. Cancer Department, Ullevål University Hospital, Oslo, Norway

    K V Reinertsen

  5. Institute of Community Medicine, University of Tromsø, Tromsø, Norway

    V Dumeaux

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  1. H Landmark-Høyvik
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Correspondence to A L Børresen-Dale.

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Supplementary Information accompanies the paper on the The Pharmacogenomics Journal website (http://www.nature.com/tpj)

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Landmark-Høyvik, H., Reinertsen, K., Loge, J. et al. Alterations of gene expression in blood cells associated with chronic fatigue in breast cancer survivors. Pharmacogenomics J 9, 333–340 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/tpj.2009.27

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