en Imonology Imonology Original Article Original Article <span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span style="line-height:14pt"><b><i><span style="color:blue">Background</span></i></b><i><span style="color:blue">:</span></i> Interleukin-38 (IL-38) is an anti-inflammatory cytokine with immunomodulatory properties, but its role in breast cancer (BC) is unclear. This study aimed to evaluate IL-38 serum levels in BC patients aged &le;40 and &ge;50 years and to correlate the findings with clinicopathological features. </span><br> <span style="line-height:14pt"><b><i><span style="color:blue">Methods:</span></i></b> IL-38 levels were measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in the serum of 30 BC patients aged <a name="_Hlk137898718">&le;40</a>, 30 aged <a name="_Hlk137898738">&ge;50</a>, and 30 healthy controls.&nbsp; Non-parametric tests were used for statistical comparisons, and Spearman&#39;s correlation was used to examine the correlation between IL-38 and age and tumor size.</span><br> <span style="line-height:14pt"><b><i><span style="color:blue">Results:</span></i></b> There was no significant difference in serum IL-38 levels between patients aged &ge;50 and those aged &le;40 or their age-matched controls. However, patients aged &le;40 years had significantly lower IL-38 levels than healthy individuals of the same age (P=0.003). In addition, serum IL-38 levels were significantly different between healthy individuals aged &le;40 and &ge;50 years. Patients with stage I and II BC had significantly lower serum IL-38 levels than healthy controls (P=0.04 and P=0.003, respectively).&nbsp; However, there were no significant associations between IL-38 serum levels and histological grade (P=0.09), nuclear grade (P=0.11), lymphovascular invasion (P=0.72), perineural invasion (P=0.21), lymph node involvement (P=0.71) and tumor size (P=0.70). </span><br> <span style="line-height:14pt"><b><i><span style="color:blue">Conclusion</span></i></b><i><span style="color:blue">:</span></i> Our results suggest that any change in IL-38 serum levels is likely to affect the anti-inflammatory response in BC patients, especially those under 40 years of age. However, this is a preliminary study, and further studies with larger cohorts are needed to validate these findings.</span></span></span><br> &nbsp; Breast cancer, IL-38 protein, Age groups, Cytokine, Serum concentration 90 96 http://caspjim.com/browse.php?a_code=A-10-3644-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Seyedeh Niloufar Mousavi Lilynilufar94@gmail.com 100319475328460055786 0009-0007-4944-5122 No Shiraz Institute for Cancer Research, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran Aida Khademolhosseini Aidak2007@yahoo.com 100319475328460055787 0009-0002-5785-1490 No Shiraz Institute for Cancer Research, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran Mohammad Javad Fattahi mfattahi@sums.ac.ir 100319475328460055788 100319475328460055788 No Shiraz Institute for Cancer Research, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran Soolmaz khansalar soolmazkhansalar@yahoo.com 100319475328460055789 0009-0003-5888-1883 No Shiraz Institute for Cancer Research, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran Sedigheh Tahmasebi tahmasebis@sum.ac.ir 100319475328460055790 100319475328460055790 No Breast Diseases Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran Abbas Ghaderi gharedia@sums.ac.ir 100319475328460055791 100319475328460055791 No Shiraz Institute for Cancer Research, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran Mohammad Reza Haghshenas haghshenasmr@sums.ac.ir 100319475328460055792 100319475328460055792 Yes Shiraz Institute for Cancer Research, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran