Project description:ObjectivesImproved breast cancer (BC) outcomes highlight the importance of secondary primary cancers (SPCs) on survivor prognosis. The objective of this study was to investigate the potential genetic association between primary BC and ovarian cancer (OC), laying the groundwork for the development of preventive strategies for SPC-OC following BC surgery.MethodsThis study aimed to assess the connection between BC and OC using a two sample Mendelian randomization (MR) approach, exclusively employing aggregate level data from publicly available genome wide association studies (GWASs). Finally, the Genetic Risk Scores (GRS) method was used for secondary analysis to verify the results robustness further.ResultsThe IVW method revealed a genetic correlation between Overall BC and ER + BC with Serous borderline tumors, while ER-BC exhibited genetic correlation with Mucinous borderline tumors and high-grade serous ovarian cancer. The findings from the GRS method aligned with those of the primary analysis, reinforcing the study's robustness.ConclusionOur MR Study identifies an association between BC and OC, highlighting the importance of increased vigilance in clinical practice for individuals with a history of BC. Timely intervention and treatment measures should be taken when necessary.
Project description:Advanced breast cancers represent a major therapeutic challenge due to their refractoriness to treatment. Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are the most abundant constituents of the tumor microenvironment and have been linked to most hallmarks of cancer. However, the influence of CAFs on therapeutic outcome remains largely unchartered. Here, we reveal that spatial coincidence of abundant CAF infiltration with malignant cells was associated with reduced estrogen receptor (ER)-α expression and activity in luminal breast tumors. Notably, CAFs mediated estrogen-independent tumor growth by selectively regulating ER-α signaling. Whereas most prototypical estrogen-responsive genes were suppressed, CAFs maintained gene expression related to therapeutic resistance, basal-like differentiation, and invasion. A functional drug screen in co-cultures identified effector pathways involved in the CAF-induced regulation of ER-α signaling. Among these, the Transforming Growth Factor-β and the Janus kinase signaling cascades were validated as actionable targets to counteract the CAF-induced modulation of ER-α activity. Finally, genes that were downregulated in cancer cells by CAFs were predictive of poor response to endocrine treatment. In conclusion, our work reveals that CAFs directly control the luminal breast cancer phenotype by selectively modulating ER-α expression and transcriptional function, and further proposes novel targets to disrupt the crosstalk between CAFs and tumor cells to reinstate treatment response to endocrine therapy in patients.
Project description:While breast cancer mortality rate has seen a steady decline in the last few decades, advances in better treatment and diagnostic tools remain important as we come into the age of personalized therapy. In this report, we describe our studies of SGK3's role in breast cancer. SGK3 (also known as CISK) is a member of the AGC family of kinases. Our previous work indicates that SGK3 functions downstream of the PI 3-kinase cascade and shares molecular and biochemical similarities with Akt. Here, we show that SGK3 expression is linked to estrogen receptor (ER) both in breast caner cell lines and in primary tumor samples. Our analysis also indicated a positive correlation between SGK3 expression and tumor prognosis. Importantly, our immunochemistry analysis of human tumor samples established a clinical link between SGK3 expression and ER+ tumors. These findings implicate SGK3 as an additional component to a complex and heterogeneous disease, and point to the potential benefits of incorporating SGK3 into the process of breast cancer diagnosis and treatment.
Project description:Obesity increases breast cancer mortality by promoting resistance to therapy. Here, we identified regulatory pathways in estrogen receptor-positive (ER-positive) tumors that were shared between patients with obesity and those with resistance to neoadjuvant aromatase inhibition. Among these was fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 (FGFR1), a known mediator of endocrine therapy resistance. In a preclinical model with patient-derived ER-positive tumors, diet-induced obesity promoted a similar gene expression signature and sustained the growth of FGFR1-overexpressing tumors after estrogen deprivation. Tumor FGFR1 phosphorylation was elevated with obesity and predicted a shorter disease-free and disease-specific survival for patients treated with tamoxifen. In both human and mouse mammary adipose tissue, FGF1 ligand expression was associated with metabolic dysfunction, weight gain, and adipocyte hypertrophy, implicating the impaired response to a positive energy balance in growth factor production within the tumor niche. In conjunction with these studies, we describe a potentially novel graft-competent model that can be used with patient-derived tissue to elucidate factors specific to extrinsic (host) and intrinsic (tumor) tissue that are critical for obesity-associated tumor promotion. Taken together, we demonstrate that obesity and excess energy establish a tumor environment with features of endocrine therapy resistance and identify a role for ligand-dependent FGFR1 signaling in obesity-associated breast cancer progression.
Project description:Estrogen (E2) has multiple functions in breast cancers including stimulating cancer growth and interfering with chemotherapeutic efficacy. Heteronemin, a marine sesterterpenoid-type natural product, has cytotoxicity on cancer cells. Breast cancer cell lines, MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231, were used for investigating mechanisms involved in inhibitory effect of E2 on heteronemin-induced anti-proliferation in breast cancer cells with different estrogen receptor (ER) status. Cytotoxicity was detected by cell proliferation assay and flow cytometry, gene expressions were determined by qPCR, mechanisms were investigated by Western blot and Mitochondrial ROS assay. Heteronemin exhibited potent cytotoxic effects against both ER-positive and ER-negative breast cancer cells. E2 stimulated cell growth in ER-positive breast cancer cells. Heteronemin induced anti-proliferation via suppressing activation of ERK1/2 and STAT3. Heteronemin suppressed E2-induced proliferation in both breast cancer cells although some gene expressions and anti-proliferative effects were inhibited in the presence of E2 in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells with a higher concentration of heteronemin. Heteromenin decreased the Bcl-2/Bax ratio to inhibit proliferation in MDA-MB-231 but not in MCF-7 cells. Both heteronemin and E2 increased mitochondrial reactive oxygen species but combined treatment reversed superoxide dismutase (SOD)s accumulation in MCF-7 cells. Heteronemin caused G0/G1 phase arrest and reduced the percentage of cells in the S phase to suppress cancer cell growth. In conclusion, Heteronemin suppressed both ER-positive and ER-negative breast cancer cell proliferation. Interactions between E2 and heteronemin in signal transduction, gene expressions, and biological activities provide insights into the complex pathways by which anti-proliferation is induced by heteronemin in E2-replete environments.
Project description:BackgroundIn ovarian cancer, the role of estrogen receptors (ERs), particularly of ERβ, being suggested as tumor suppressor in breast and prostate cancer, remains unclear. We examined the expression of nuclear and cytoplasmic ERβ in ovarian cancer and correlated it with expression of ovarian cancer markers CA125, CEA and CA72-4, steroid hormone receptors ERα and PR, cancer-associated genes EGFR, p53, HER2 and proliferation marker Ki-67. Additionally we examined to what extent expression of ERβ and the other proteins affects survival of ovarian cancer patients.MethodsWe established a tissue microarray from 171 ovarian cancer patients and performed immunohistochemical analyses of the mentioned proteins.ResultsNuclear ERβ was detected in 47.31% of the ovarian cancer tissues and cytoplasmic expression of this receptor was observed in 23.08%. Nuclear expression of ERβ was significantly decreased in the G3 subgroup compared to better differentiated cancers (p < 0.01) and correlated with ovarian cancer markers CEA (95% CI 0.1598-0.4465; p < 0.0001) and CA72-4 (95% CI 0.05953-0.3616; p < 0.01). Cytoplasmic ERβ expression correlated with EGFR levels (95% CI 0.1059-0.4049; p < 0.001). ERα expression was associated with expression of CA125 and PR. Overall survival of patients with tumors expressing cytoplasmic ERβ was significant longer compared to those with ERβ-negative ovarian cancer (chi-square statistic of the log-rank, p < 0.05). Progression-free survival was dependent on expression of PR (chi-square statistic of the log-rank, p < 0.05) and Ki-67 (p = 0.05).ConclusionsOur data suggest an important, but distinct role of nuclear and cytoplasmic ERβ expression in ovarian cancer and encourage further studies on its role in this cancer entity.
Project description:Elevated expression of Wnt5a is associated with malignancy, cell invasion, and metastasis. The role of Wnt5a expression in breast cancer remains elusive. We investigated the significance of Wnt5a expression in breast cancer. The relationship between Wnt5a expression and clinicopathologic factors was assessed in invasive breast cancer (n = 178) resected at Hiroshima University Hospital between January 2011 and February 2014. Wnt5a was expressed in 69 of 178 cases (39%) of invasive breast cancer and correlated strongly with estrogen receptor (ER) expression (P < 0.001). Wnt5a expression in ER-positive breast cancer correlated significantly with lymph node metastasis, nuclear grade, and lymphatic invasion. The recurrence-free survival was shorter in breast cancer patients with Wnt5a expression than in those without (P = 0.024). The migratory capacity of ER-positive breast cancer cells increased with constitutive expression of Wnt5a and decreased with Wnt5a knockdown. DNA microarray analysis identified activated leukocyte cell adhesion molecule (ALCAM) as the primary gene induced by Wnt5a. ALCAM was expressed in 69% of Wnt5a-positive but only 27% of Wnt5a-negative cancers (κ = 0.444; P < 0.001). The inhibition of ALCAM reversed the enhanced migratory effect of Wnt5a, confirming the importance of this protein in the migration of ER-positive breast cancer cells. Wnt5a expression is related to high malignancy and a poor prognosis in ER-positive breast cancer. We suspect that Wnt5a expression increases the malignancy of breast cancer by increasing the migratory capacity of cancer cells through the induction of ALCAM expression.
Project description:Estrogen and estrogen receptor (ER)-mediated signaling pathways play important roles in the etiology and progression of human breast, endometrial, and ovarian cancers. Attenuating ER activities by natural products and their derivatives is a relatively practical strategy to control and reduce breast, endometrial, and ovarian cancer risk. Here, we found 3-butoxy-1,8,9-trihydroxy-6H-benzofuro[3,2-c]benzopyran-6-one (BTB), a new derivative of wedelolactone, could effectively inhibit the 17-estradiol (E2)-induced ER transactivation and suppress the growth of breast cancer as well as endometrial and ovarian cancer cells. Our results indicate that 2.5 μM BTB effectively suppresses ER-positive, but not ER-negative, breast, endometrial, and ovarian cancer cells. Furthermore, our data indicate that BTB can modulate ER transactivation and suppress the expression of E2-mediated ER target genes (Cyclin D1, E2F1, and TERT) in the ER-positive MCF-7, Ishikawa, and SKOV-3 cells. Importantly, this BTB mediated inhibition of ER activity is selective since BTB does not suppress the activities of other nuclear receptors, including glucocorticoid receptor and progesterone receptor, suggesting that BTB functions as a selective ER signaling inhibitor with the potential to treat breast, endometrial, and ovarian cancers.
Project description:Breast cancer is one of the most common malignancies and the leading cause of cancer-associated death among women. Anterior gradient 3 (AGR3) is a cancer-associated gene and is similar to its homologous oncogene AGR2. However, whether AGR3 participates in breast cancer progression remains unclear. The present study aimed to investigate the function of AGR3 in ER-positive breast cancer. In the present study, reverse transcription-quantitative PCR was used to detect AGR3 mRNA expression in breast cancer tissues and cell lines; linear correlation analysis was used to investigate the correlation between AGR3 and estrogen receptor 1 (ESR1) expression in breast cancer via GEO dataset analysis; western blotting was used to assess the levels of AGR3, ER and GAPDH; small interfering (si)RNA transfection was used to knock down AGR3 and ESR1 expression; and finally the Cell Counting Kit-8 assay was used to evaluate cell viability. In the present study, AGR3 expression was markedly increased in estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer tissues and cell lines compared with that in ER-negative breast cancer. AGR3 expression was upregulated in estrogen-treated T47D cells, whereas 4-hydroxytamoxifen, an inhibitor of estrogen-ER activity in breast cancer cells, downregulated AGR3 expression in T47D cells. Functional assays demonstrated that knockdown of AGR3 using siRNAs inhibited T47D cell proliferation compared with that of the negative control group. Additionally, AGR3 expression was decreased after knocking down ESR1. The present results suggested that AGR3 may serve an important role in estrogen-mediated cell proliferation in breast cancer and that AGR3 knockdown may be a potential therapeutic strategy for ER-positive breast cancer.
Project description:Obesity is one of the most important health risks in postmenopausal women. Molecular pathways that are connected with obesity are believed to interact with the pathogenesis of breast cancer (BC). The aim of this research was to study the polymorphisms of two obesity-associated genes ADIPOQ and FTO that are also related to the pathogenesis of BC. Obesity-associated gene polymorphisms ADIPOQ rs1501299 and rs2241766, and FTO rs1477196, rs7206790, rs8047395, and rs9939609 were studied in 101 Turkish postmenopausal estrogen receptor-positive BC patients and 100 healthy control individuals. ADIPOQ rs1501299 was detected to be associated with protection against BC. The ADIPOQ rs1501299 TT genotype, the rs2241766 GT genotype and the G allele were found to be significantly higher in the control group. In addition, ADIPOQ rs1501299 polymorphism was protective in the recessive model and rs2241766 polymorphism was protective in the dominant model. While none of the FTO gene polymorphisms were found to be associated with BC, the frequencies of rs9939609 A allele and rs7206790 G allele were correlated with body mass index (BMI) in BC patients. ADIPOQ rs1501299 TT genotype, rs2241766 GT genotype, and G allele might be protective against BC in the Turkish population but this conclusion needs to be further verified.