Integration of molecular profiling and chemical imaging to elucidate fibroblast-microenvironment impact on cancer cell phenotype and endocrine resistance in breast cancer.

ABSTRACT: The tumor microenvironment is known to play a key role in altering the properties and behavior of nearby cancer cells. Its influence on resistance to endocrine therapy and cancer relapse, however, is poorly understood. Here we investigate the interaction of mammary fibroblasts and estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer cells in three-dimensional culture models in order to characterize gene expression, cellular changes, and the secreted protein factors involved in the cellular cross-talk. We show that fibroblasts, which are the predominant cell type found in the stroma adjacent to the cancer cells in a tumor, induce an epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in the cancer cells, leading to hormone-independent growth, a more invasive phenotype, and resistance to endocrine therapy. Here, we ap

SUBMITTER: Holton SE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4016150 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature