The Molecular Anatomy of Breast Cancer Stroma; Independent Prognostic Role in ER-Positive and ER-Negative Cancers.

Author(s):  
G. Bianchini ◽  
G. Bianchini ◽  
R. Alvarez ◽  
Y. Qi ◽  
C. Hatzis ◽  
...  
2010 ◽  
Vol 28 (28) ◽  
pp. 4316-4323 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giampaolo Bianchini ◽  
Yuan Qi ◽  
Ricardo H. Alvarez ◽  
Takayuki Iwamoto ◽  
Charles Coutant ◽  
...  

Purpose The purpose of this study was to identify genes enriched in breast cancer stroma, assess the stromal gene expression differences between estrogen receptor (ER) –positive and –negative cancers, and separately determine their prognostic value in these two subtypes of breast cancers. Methods We compared gene expression profiles of pairs of fine-needle (stroma-poor) and core-needle (stroma-rich) biopsies from 37 cancers to identify stroma-associated genes. We defined stromal metagenes and tested their prognostic values in 684 node-negative patients who received no systemic adjuvant therapy and 259 tamoxifen-treated patients. Results We identified 293 probe sets overexpressed in core biopsies; these included five highly coexpressed gene clusters (metagenes) corresponding to immune functions and extracellular matrix components. These genes showed quantitative and qualitative differences between ER-positive and ER-negative cancers. A B-cell/plasma cell metagene showed strong prognostic value in ER-positive highly proliferative cancers, a lesser prognostic value in ER-negative cancers, and no prognostic value in ER-positive cancers with low proliferation. The hazard ratio for distant relapse in the lowest compared with the highest tertile of the pooled prognostic data set was 4.29 (95% CI, 2.04 to 9.01; P = .001) in ER-positive cancers and 3.34 (95% CI, 1.60 to 6.97; P = .001) in ER-negative cancers. This remained significant in multivariate analysis including routine variables and other genomic prognostic scores. As a result of quantitative differences in this metagene between ER-positive and ER-negative cancers, different thresholds apply in the two subgroups. Other stromal metagenes had inconsistent prognostic value. Conclusion Among ER-negative and ER-positive highly proliferative cancers, a subset of tumors with high expression of a B-cell/plasma cell metagene carries a favorable prognosis.


2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesca Galardi ◽  
Francesca De Luca ◽  
Chiara Biagioni ◽  
Ilenia Migliaccio ◽  
Giuseppe Curigliano ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are prognostic in patients with advanced breast cancer (ABC). However, no data exist about their use in patients treated with palbociclib. We analyzed the prognostic role of CTC counts in patients enrolled in the cTREnd study, a pre-planned translational sub-study of TREnd (NCT02549430), that randomized patients with ABC to palbociclib alone or palbociclib plus the endocrine therapy received in the prior line of treatment. Moreover, we evaluated RB1 gene expression on CTCs and explored its prognostic role within the cTREnd subpopulation. Methods Forty-six patients with ER-positive, HER2-negative ABC were analyzed. Blood samples were collected before starting palbociclib treatment (timepoint T0), after the first cycle of treatment (timepoint T1), and at disease progression (timepoint T2). CTCs were isolated and counted by CellSearch® System using the CellSearch™Epithelial Cell kit. Progression-free survival (PFS), clinical benefit (CB) during study treatment, and time to treatment failure (TTF) after study treatment were correlated with CTC counts. Samples with ≥ 5 CTCs were sorted by DEPArray system® (DA). RB1 and GAPDH gene expression levels were measured by ddPCR. Results All 46 patients were suitable for CTCs analysis. CTC count at T0 did not show significant prognostic value in terms of PFS and CB. Patients with at least one detectable CTC at T1 (n = 26) had a worse PFS than those with 0 CTCs (n = 16) (p = 0.02). At T1, patients with an increase of at least three CTCs showed reduced PFS compared to those with no increase (mPFS = 3 versus 9 months, (p = 0.004). Finally, patients with ≥ 5 CTCs at T2 (n = 6/23) who received chemotherapy as post-study treatment had a shorter TTF (p = 0.02). Gene expression data for RB1 were obtained from 19 patients. CTCs showed heterogeneous RB1 expression. Patients with detectable expression of RB1 at any timepoint showed better, but not statistically significant, outcomes than those with undetectable levels. Conclusions CTC count seems to be a promising modality in monitoring palbociclib response. Moreover, CTC count at the time of progression could predict clinical outcome post-palbociclib. RB1 expression analysis on CTCs is feasible and may provide additional prognostic information. Results should be interpreted with caution given the small studied sample size.


Author(s):  
Chuan Chen ◽  
Ziyue Zhao ◽  
Qian Dong ◽  
XueHui Gao ◽  
Huibin Xu ◽  
...  

Background:: Xanthones are a class of heterocyclic natural products, which are promising sources of anticancer leads. Phomoxanthone B(PXB)and Phomoxanthone A(PXA)are xanthone dimers. PXA is well studied as an anti-cancer agent, but PXB is not. In our study, PXB was isolated from the endophytic fungus Phomopsis sp. By254. Objective:: The purpose of this study was to identify the underlying anti-tumor mechanisms of PXB in breast cancer MCF7 cell line. Methods:: Apoptosis, cell cycle, proliferation, invasion and migration assays were used to assess the antitumor activity of PXB. RNA sequencing was used to analyze the effect of PXB treatment on gene expression in MCF7 cells. Results:: PXB showed cytotoxicity toward a variety of tumor cells, especially MCF7 cells. PXB inhibited the migration and invasion, arrested cell cycle at G2/M phase and induced apoptosis associated with caspase-3 activation in MCF7 cells. The detailed transcriptome analysis revealed that PXB affected several pathways related to tumorigenesis, metabolisms-, and oxidative phosphorylation in MCF7 cells. KEGG transcriptome analysis revealed that PXB upregulated pro-survival signal pathways such as MAPK, PI3K-AKT and STAT3 pathways. We found that PXB also significantly upregulated the expression of IL24, DDIT3 and XAF1, which may contribute to PXB-induced apoptosis. We further found that PXB may downregulate oxidative phosphorylation by decreasing the expression of electron transport chain genes, especially MT-ND1, which is a potential unfavorable prognostic marker for ER-positive breast cancer. Conclusion:: PXB exerts strong cytotoxicity against human tumor cells and has a potential for ER-positive breast cancer treatment.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanxia Zhan ◽  
Junxian Du ◽  
Zhihui Min ◽  
Li Ma ◽  
Wei Zhang ◽  
...  

AbstractHypoxia is a common phenomenon in solid tumors. The roles of exosomes from hypoxic breast cancer stroma are less studied. So, the study was aimed to investigate the role of exosomes from hypoxic cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) cells in breast cancer. The circRNA array analysis was performed to screen differential expressed circRNAs between hypoxic and normoxic CAFs exosomes. Candidate circHIF1A (circ_0032138) was screened out and it was confirmed that circHIF1A was up-regulated in the exosomes from hypoxic CAFs and their exosomes. Through investigating cellular functions including cell proliferation and stem cell features, it was demonstrated that hypoxic CAFs exosomes transferred circHIF1A into breast cancer cells, which played an important role in cancer stem cell properties sponging miR-580-5p by regulating CD44 expression. In a summary, circHIF1A from hypoxic CAFs exosomes played an important role in stem cell properties of breast cancer. CircHIF1A may act as a target molecule of breast cancer therapy.


BMC Cancer ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah M. Bernhardt ◽  
Pallave Dasari ◽  
Danielle J. Glynn ◽  
Lucy Woolford ◽  
Lachlan M. Moldenhauer ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The Oncotype DX 21-gene Recurrence Score is predictive of adjuvant chemotherapy benefit for women with early-stage, estrogen receptor (ER)-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer. In premenopausal women, fluctuations in estrogen and progesterone during the menstrual cycle impact gene expression in hormone-responsive cancers. However, the extent to which menstrual cycling affects the Oncotype DX 21-gene signature remains unclear. Here, we investigate the impact of ovarian cycle stage on the 21-gene signature using a naturally cycling mouse model of breast cancer. Methods ER-positive mammary tumours were dissected from naturally cycling Mmtv-Pymt mice at either the estrus or diestrus phase of the ovarian cycle. The Oncotype DX 21-gene signature was assessed through quantitative real time-PCR, and a 21-gene experimental recurrence score analogous to the Oncotype DX Recurrence Score was calculated. Results Tumours collected at diestrus exhibited significant differences in expression of 6 Oncotype DX signature genes (Ki67, Ccnb1, Esr1, Erbb2, Grb7, Bag1; p ≤ 0.05) and a significant increase in 21-gene recurrence score (21.8 ± 2.4; mean ± SEM) compared to tumours dissected at estrus (15.5 ± 1.9; p = 0.03). Clustering analysis revealed a subgroup of tumours collected at diestrus characterised by increased expression of proliferation- (p < 0.001) and invasion-group (p = 0.01) genes, and increased 21-gene recurrence score (p = 0.01). No correlation between ER, PR, HER2, and KI67 protein abundance measured by Western blot and abundance of mRNA for the corresponding gene was observed, suggesting that gene expression is more susceptible to hormone-induced fluctuation compared to protein expression. Conclusions Ovarian cycle stage at the time of tissue collection critically affects the 21-gene signature in Mmtv-Pymt murine mammary tumours. Further studies are required to determine whether Oncotype DX Recurrence Scores in women are similarly affected by menstrual cycle stage.


Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 621
Author(s):  
Maria Grazia Muoio ◽  
Marianna Talia ◽  
Rosamaria Lappano ◽  
Andrew H. Sims ◽  
Veronica Vella ◽  
...  

Background: Breast cancer (BC) mortality is increased among obese and diabetic patients. Both obesity and diabetes are associated with dysregulation of both the IGF-1R and the RAGE (Receptor for Advanced Glycation End Products) pathways, which contribute to complications of these disorders. The alarmin S100A7, signaling through the receptor RAGE, prompts angiogenesis, inflammation, and BC progression. Methods: We performed bioinformatic analysis of BC gene expression datasets from published studies. We then used Estrogen Receptor (ER)-positive BC cells, CRISPR-mediated IGF-1R KO BC cells, and isogenic S100A7-transduced BC cells to investigate the role of IGF-1/IGF-1R in the regulation of S100A7 expression and tumor angiogenesis. To this aim, we also used gene silencing and pharmacological inhibitors, and we performed gene expression and promoter studies, western blotting analysis, ChIP and ELISA assays, endothelial cell proliferation and tube formation assay. Results: S100A7 expression correlates with worse prognostic outcomes in human BCs. In BC cells, the IGF-1/IGF-1R signaling engages STAT3 activation and its recruitment to the S100A7 promoter toward S100A7 increase. In human vascular endothelial cells, S100A7 activates RAGE signaling and prompts angiogenic effects. Conclusions: In ER-positive BCs the IGF-1 dependent activation of the S100A7/RAGE signaling in adjacent endothelial cells may serve as a previously unidentified angiocrine effector. Targeting S100A7 may pave the way for a better control of BC, particularly in conditions of unopposed activation of the IGF-1/IGF-1R axis.


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