Notch promotes recurrence of dormant tumor cells following HER2/neu-targeted therapy.

ABSTRACT: Breast cancer mortality is principally due to recurrent tumors that arise from a reservoir of residual tumor cells that survive therapy. Remarkably, breast cancers can recur after extended periods of clinical remission, implying that at least some residual tumor cells pass through a dormant phase prior to relapse. Nevertheless, the mechanisms that contribute to breast cancer recurrence are poorly understood. Using a mouse model of recurrent mammary tumorigenesis in combination with bioinformatics analyses of breast cancer patients, we have identified a role for Notch signaling in mammary tumor dormancy and recurrence. Specifically, we found that Notch signaling is acutely upregulated in tumor cells following HER2/neu pathway inhibition, that Notch signaling remains activated in a subset of

SUBMITTER: Abravanel DL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4497740 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature