Neutrophil Extracellular Traps Formation in Breast Cancer Patients Taking Tamoxifen

Inclusion Criteria

• Female
• Age criteria for pre-menopausal group: Equal to or greater than 18 years of age and less than or equal to 45 years of age. Patients of age 46-50 will be included if they have not had menstrual cessation for 12 consecutive months.
• Age criteria for menopausal group: At least 51 years of age (median age of menopause). Menopause is defined as cessation of menstrual cycle for 12 consecutive months.
• Diagnosed with ER+ breast cancer
• Being treated with tamoxifen (TAM) for at least 6 months
• CONTROL SUBJECTS: Newly diagnosed ER+ breast cancer patients of the same age group as above on TAM for 0-6 months. This criterion is based on our preliminary results showing that patients taking TAM for 6-7 months exhibit near baseline level of NETs

Exclusion Criteria

• Informed consent unobtainable
• Pregnant -The immune modulations geared toward maintenance of pregnancy are known to cause wide-spread alterations in innate and adaptive immune cell functions. In this scenario, divorcing the pregnancy-related changes in myeloid cell function from those relevant to sepsis and cancer will be complicated.
• History of severe congenital neutropenia due to genetic disorders, such as Kostmann Disorder (HAX1 gene mutation), ELA2 gene mutation, Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WAS), growth factor independent 1 protein (GFI1) gene mutation, colony stimulating factor 3 receptor (CSF3R) gene mutation, Schwachman-Diamond syndrome, Barth syndrome, warts, hypogammaglobulinemia, infections, and myelokathexis (WHIM) syndrome, and Chadiak-Higashi syndrome (this list notably does not include myelodysplastic syndrome, or acute/chronic myeloid leukemia)
• History of autoimmune disorders, which can affect the body’s inflammatory response, such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, Crohn’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and psoriasis.
• History of chronic viral infections (human immunodeficiency virus [HIV], hepatitis), which can lead to reduced or variable immune cell function.
• A recent positive coronavirus disease (COVID) test