Plasma cytokine profiles in breast cancer patients and their association with therapeutic response in Peru: a prospective cohort study

Vela-Ruiz J.M.; Morante Z.; Ferreyra Y.; Galvez-Villanueva M.A.; Valencia F.; Campos-Tineo J.J.; Callapiña De Paz M.; Córdova-Salazar A.A.; Marcos-Carbajal P.; Moreno Lujan J.M.; Pantoja Lazaro A.R.; Escobar Caipo L.G.; Flores Trujillo G.A.; Cusma Quintana T.N.; De La Cruz-Vargas J.A.; Gomez H.L.; Soto A. · Frontiers in Immunology (2026) · DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2026.1771790

Resumen

Background – Breast cancer (BC) is the most common malignant neoplasm in women worldwide and in Peru. Beyond hormonal and genetic factors, cytokines play a key role in tumor aggressiveness and therapeutic resistance. However, evidence on circulating cytokine profiles in Latin American populations is limited. Objective – We aimed to characterize the plasma cytokine profile in Peruvian women with BC and evaluate its association with molecular subtypes and treatment response. Materials and methods – A prospective cohort study was conducted. We included 88 BC patients with clinical stage II–III, who were diagnosed at three different cancer centers in Peru: Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Neoplásicas (INEN, Lima-Peru), Instituto Regional de Enfermedades Neoplásicas del Norte (IREN-NORTE, Trujillo-Peru), and Instituto Regional de Enfermedades Neoplásicas del Sur (IREN-SUR, Arequipa-Peru). Plasma samples were obtained prior to any treatment being administered and underwent analysis using the Bio-Plex Pro™ Human Cytokine 48-Plex Screening Panel kit. Poisson regression models were used to evaluate the association between cytokine levels and complete pathological response (pCR) and clinical response. Results – Cytokine concentration differences in MIP-1β, IL-9, GRO-α, and TNF-β were observed between BC molecular subtypes. Furthermore, lower levels of circulating FGF BASIC appear necessary to increase the relative risk of achieving pCR (RR = 0.9779; 95% CI 0.9573–0.9989; p=0.0392). Decreased levels of FGF BASIC, PDGF BB, SDF-1, IL-12 P40, and IL-8 were also found to be related to an increased chance of clinical responses to treatments. Multivariable analyses indicated that only FGF-BASIC, PDGF-BB, and IL-12 P40 remained independently associated with clinical response. Conclusions – Our study identified plasma cytokines linked to BC subtypes and treatment response in a Peruvian cohort. FGF-BASIC consistently demonstrated a significant association with both pCR and clinical response. Copyright

Instituciones: Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia; Universidad Ricardo Palma; Universidad de San Martín de Porres; Universidad Nacional de Ucayali; Universidad Católica de Santa María