Stromal EGF and igf-I together modulate plasticity of disseminated triple-negative breast tumors.

ABSTRACT: The causes for malignant progression of disseminated tumors and the reasons recurrence rates differ in women with different breast cancer subtypes are unknown. Here, we report novel mechanisms of tumor plasticity that are mandated by microenvironmental factors and show that recurrence rates are not strictly due to cell-intrinsic properties. Specifically, outgrowth of the same population of incipient tumors is accelerated in mice with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) relative to those with luminal breast cancer. Systemic signals provided by overt TNBCs cause the formation of a tumor-supportive microenvironment enriched for EGF and insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) at distant indolent tumor sites. Bioavailability of EGF and IGF-I enhances the expression of transcription factors associ

SUBMITTER: Castano Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3740018 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature