New insights in the interaction of FGF/FGFR and steroid receptor signaling in breast cancer

Endocrinology ◽  
2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cecilia Pérez Piñero ◽  
Sebastián Giulianelli ◽  
Caroline A Lamb ◽  
Claudia Lanari

Abstract Luminal breast cancer (BrCa) has a favorable prognosis compared to other tumor subtypes. However, with time tumors may evolve and lead to disease progression. Thus, there is a great interest in unraveling the mechanisms that drive tumor metastasis and endocrine resistance. In this review we focused in one of the many pathways that have been involved in tumor progression, the FGF/FGFR axis. We emphasized in data obtained from in vivo experimental models since we believe that in luminal BrCa, tumor growth relies in a crosstalk with the stromal tissue. We revisited the studies that illustrate the interaction between hormone receptors and FGFR. We also highlighted the most frequent alterations found in BrCa cell lines and we provide a short review on the trials that use FGFR inhibitors in combination with endocrine therapies. The analysis of this data suggests that there are many players involved in this pathway that might be also targeted to decrease FGF signaling in addition to specific FGFR inhibitors that may be exploited to increase their efficacy.

Author(s):  
Miriam González-Conde ◽  
Celso Yanez ◽  
Rafael López-López ◽  
Clotilde Costa

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women worldwide. Approximately, 70 % of breast cancer patients express hormone receptors (HR) (Luminal subtype). Adjuvant endocrine treatments are the standard of care in HR+/HER2- breast cancer. Over time, about 50% of those patients develop endocrine resistance and metastatic breast cancer. Cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors (CDKi) in combination with an aromatase inhibitor or fulvestrant have demonstrated superior efficacy increasing progression-free survival, with a safe toxicity profile, in HR+/HER2- metastatic breast cancer patients. CDKi blocks kinases 4/6 ATP-binding domain preventing G1/S cell cycle transition. Despite this, not all patients respond to CDKi and those who respond, finally develop resistance to combination therapy. Different studies, in tumour tissue or cell lines, have tried to elucidate the mechanisms underlying this progression, but there are still no conclusive data. In the last few years, liquid biopsy has contributed relevant information to this knowledge. Liquid biopsy can be performed in real-time, non-invasively and be repeated whenever needed. Circulating tumour material are potential prognostic markers in metastatic luminal breast cancer to determine patient prognosis, monitor disease and treatment selection. The objective of this review is to outline the different studies carried out in HR+ metastatic breast cancer patients treated with CDKi plus endocrine therapy using liquid biopsy approaches looking for possible resistance mechanisms.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovanni Vanni Frajese ◽  
Monica Benvenuto ◽  
Rosanna Mattera ◽  
Saverio Giampaoli ◽  
Elena Ambrosin ◽  
...  

Electrochemical reduced water (ERW) has been proposed to have beneficial effects on human health due to its rich content of H2and the presence of platinum nanoparticles with antioxidant effects. Many studies have demonstrated that ERW scavenging properties are able to reduce the damage caused by oxidative stress in different experimental models. Although fewin vivostudies have been reported, it has been demonstrated that ERW may display anticancer effects by induction of tumor cells apoptosis and reduction of both angiogenesis and inflammation. In this study, we show that ERW treatment of MCF-7, MDA-MB-453, and mouse (TUBO) breast cancer cells inhibited cell survival in a time-dependent fashion. ERW decreased ErbB2/neuexpression and impaired pERK1/ERK2 and AKT phosphorylation in breast cancer cells. In addition, ERW treatment induced apoptosis of breast cancer cell lines independently of the status of p53 and ER and PR receptors. Ourin vivoresults showed that ERW treatment of transgenic BALB-neuT mice delayed the development of mammary tumors compared to the control. In addition, ERW induced a significant prolongation of tumor-free survival and a reduction in tumor multiplicity. Overall, these results suggest a potential beneficial role of ERW in inhibiting cancer cells growth.


2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 237-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hugo Villanueva ◽  
Sandra Grimm ◽  
Sagar Dhamne ◽  
Kimal Rajapakshe ◽  
Adriana Visbal ◽  
...  

Abstract Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is a non-obligate precursor to most types of invasive breast cancer (IBC). Although it is estimated only one third of untreated patients with DCIS will progress to IBC, standard of care for treatment is surgery and radiation. This therapeutic approach combined with a lack of reliable biomarker panels to predict DCIS progression is a major clinical problem. DCIS shares the same molecular subtypes as IBC including estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) positive luminal subtypes, which encompass the majority (60–70%) of DCIS. Compared to the established roles of ER and PR in luminal IBC, much less is known about the roles and mechanism of action of estrogen (E2) and progesterone (P4) and their cognate receptors in the development and progression of DCIS. This is an underexplored area of research due in part to a paucity of suitable experimental models of ER+/PR + DCIS. This review summarizes information from clinical and observational studies on steroid hormones as breast cancer risk factors and ER and PR as biomarkers in DCIS. Lastly, we discuss emerging experimental models of ER+/PR+ DCIS.


2012 ◽  
Vol 17 (9) ◽  
pp. 1211-1220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Byong Hoon Yoo ◽  
Sunshine Daddario Axlund ◽  
Peter Kabos ◽  
Brian G. Reid ◽  
Jerome Schaack ◽  
...  

Breast cancers expressing hormone receptors for estrogen (ER) and progesterone (PR) represent ~70% of all cases and are treated with both ER-targeted and chemotherapies, with near 40% becoming resistant. We have previously described that in some ER+ tumors, the resistant cells express cytokeratin 5 (CK5), a putative marker of breast stem and progenitor cells. CK5+ cells have lost expression of ER and PR, express the tumor-initiating cell surface marker CD44, and are relatively quiescent. In addition, progestins, which increase breast cancer incidence, expand the CK5+ subpopulation in ER+PR+ breast cancer cell lines. We have developed models to induce and quantitate CK5+ER−PR− cells, using CK5 promoter-driven luciferase (Fluc) or green fluorescent protein (GFP) reporters stably transduced into T47D breast cancer cells (CK5Pro-GFP or CK5Pro-Luc). We validated the CK5Pro-GFP-T47D model for high-content screening in 96-well microplates and performed a pilot screen using a focused library of 280 compounds from the National Institutes of Health clinical collection. Four hits were obtained that significantly abrogated the progestin-induced CK5+ cell population, three of which were members of the retinoid family. Hence, this approach will be useful in discovering small molecules that could potentially be developed as combination therapies, preventing the acquisition of a drug-resistant subpopulation.


Cancers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 2918
Author(s):  
Simone Borgoni ◽  
Emre Sofyalı ◽  
Maryam Soleimani ◽  
Heike Wilhelm ◽  
Karin Müller-Decker ◽  
...  

Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of death for women worldwide. Patients whose tumors express Estrogen Receptor α account for around 70% of cases and are mostly treated with targeted endocrine therapy. However, depending on the degree of severity of the disease at diagnosis, 10 to 40% of these tumors eventually relapse due to resistance development. Even though recent novel approaches as the combination with CDK4/6 inhibitors increased the overall survival of relapsing patients, this remains relatively short and there is a urgent need to find alternative targetable pathways. In this study we profiled the early phases of the resistance development process to uncover drivers of this phenomenon. Time-resolved analysis revealed that ATF3, a member of the ATF/CREB family of transcription factors, acts as a novel regulator of the response to therapy via rewiring of central signaling processes towards the adaptation to endocrine treatment. ATF3 was found to be essential in controlling crucial processes such as proliferation, cell cycle, and apoptosis during the early response to treatment through the regulation of MAPK/AKT signaling pathways. Its essential role was confirmed in vivo in a mouse model, and elevated expression of ATF3 was verified in patient datasets, adding clinical relevance to our findings. This study proposes ATF3 as a novel mediator of endocrine resistance development in breast cancer and elucidates its role in the regulation of downstream pathways activities.


Cancers ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 1894 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irene De Santo ◽  
Amelia McCartney ◽  
Ilenia Migliaccio ◽  
Angelo Di Leo ◽  
Luca Malorni

Mutations in the hotspot ligand-binding domain of the estrogen receptor (ER) gene ESR1 have recently been recognized as mechanisms of endocrine resistance in endocrine receptor-positive metastatic breast cancer (MBC). Accumulating data suggest these mutations develop under the selective pressure of endocrine treatments, and are infrequent in untreated ER-positive breast cancers. In vitro studies show that these mutations confer ligand-independent activity, resistance to estrogen deprivation, and relative resistance to tamoxifen and fulvestrant. Post-hoc retrospective and prospective analyses of ESR1 mutations in patients with MBC have consistently found that these mutations are markers of poor prognosis and predict resistance to aromatase inhibitors (AIs). These results warrant further investigation and prospective validation in dedicated studies. Moreover, studies are ongoing to clarify the activity of novel drugs in the context of metastatic endocrine resistant luminal breast cancer harboring ESR1 mutations. In this review, we summarize the pre-clinical and clinical findings defining the characteristics of ESR1 mutant breast cancer, and highlight the potential clinical developments in this field.


ESMO Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
pp. e000937
Author(s):  
Annalisa Petrelli ◽  
Sara Erika Bellomo ◽  
Ivana Sarotto ◽  
Franziska Kubatzki ◽  
Paola Sgandurra ◽  
...  

PurposeOverexpression of miR-100 in stem cells derived from basal-like breast cancers causes loss of stemness, induction of luminal breast cancer markers and response to endocrine therapy. We, therefore, explored miR-100 as a novel biomarker in patients with luminal breast cancer.MethodsmiR-100 expression was studied in 90 patients with oestrogen-receptor-positive/human-epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative breast cancer enrolled in a prospective study of endocrine therapy given either preoperatively, or for the treatment of de novo metastatic disease. Response was defined as a Ki67 ≤2.7% after 21±3 days of treatment. The prognostic role of miR-100 expression was evaluated in the Molecular Taxonomy of Breast Cancer International Consortium (METABRIC) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) breast cancer datasets. Additionally, we explored the correlation between miR-100 and the expression its targets reported as being associated with endocrine resistance. Finally, we evaluated whether a signature based on miR-100 and its target genes could predict the luminal A molecular subtype.ResultsBaseline miR-100 was significantly anticorrelated with baseline and post-treatment Ki67 (p<0.001 and 0.004, respectively), and independently associated with response to treatment (OR 3.329, p=0.047). In the METABRIC dataset, high expression of miR-100 identified women with luminal A tumours treated with adjuvant endocrine therapy with improved overall survival (HR 0.55, p<0.001). miR-100 was negatively correlated with PLK1, FOXA1, mTOR and IGF1R expression, potentially explaining its prognostic effect. Finally, a miR-100-based signature developed in patients enrolled in the prospective study outperformed Ki67 alone in predicting the luminal A phenotype.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that miR-100 should be further explored as a biomarker in patients with luminal breast cancer.


2009 ◽  
Vol 27 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e14565-e14565
Author(s):  
D. Sharma ◽  
B. B. Knight ◽  
R. Yacoub ◽  
T. Liu ◽  
L. Taliaferro-Smith ◽  
...  

e14565 Background: The outcome for patients with breast cancer has been significantly improved by the use of targeted agents. The prognosis of triple negative (TN) breast cancers, which do not express hormone receptors (ER, PR) or Her2, is poor, because of an aggressive clinical course and lack of targeted therapeutic agents. Epigenetic silencing of specific genes has been observed in breast cancer and some of these genes are more important due to available targeted therapies such as ER. Since all endocrine therapies are designed to block ER function in some way, the identification of new therapies or strategies that could sensitize TN breast cancers to existing endocrine therapy could provide a revolutionary means of treating this aggressive subtype of cancer Methods: We examined the efficacy of combined treatment of HDAC inhibitor LBH589 and DNMT inhibitor decitabine to regenerate ER and PR in TN breast cancer cells using RT-PCR and immunoblotting. Changes in growth and proliferation of TN breast cancer cells in response to LBH589 and decitabine treatment were determined by XTT, BrdU incorporation and colony formation assay. Changes in apoptotic proteins were determined by western blotting. Athymic nude mice were used to establish pre-clinical models for TN breast cancer cells and effectiveness of combined treatment of LBH589 and decitabine was determined. Tumors biopsies were analyzed for ER and PR re-expression by western blot analysis and immunohistochemistry at the end of the treatment. Results: Combined treatment of LBH589 and decitabine resulted in re-expression of ER and PR in TN breast cancers in vitro and in vivo. Although re-expression of ER and PR were noted following LBH589 treatment alone, re-expression was more robust with the combination. TN breast cancer cells showing re-expressed ER can be targeted with tamoxifen. Tamoxifen inhibits growth of TN breast cancer cells re- expressing ER by triggering apoptosis. Conclusions: The importance of epigenetic events such as DNA methylation and HDAC inhibition in tumor progression is becoming increasingly evident. A trial evaluating the ability of LBH589 and decitabine to re- express ER, which can then be targeted by tamoxifen, is planned in patients with metastatic TN breast cancer. No significant financial relationships to disclose.


2004 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 623-641 ◽  
Author(s):  
R I Nicholson ◽  
C Staka ◽  
F Boyns ◽  
I R Hutcheson ◽  
J M W Gee

There is an increasing body of evidence demonstrating that elevated growth signaling in breast cancer cells can promote forms of endocrine resistance in either an estrogen receptor-dependent or -independent manner. The current article reviews what is known about such growth factor signaling networks and resistance to estrogen withdrawal and considers the many novel therapeutic opportunities that stem from this knowledge.


2003 ◽  
Vol 21 (17) ◽  
pp. 3357-3365 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aron Goldhirsch ◽  
William C. Wood ◽  
Richard D. Gelber ◽  
Alan S. Coates ◽  
Beat Thürlimann ◽  
...  

This account of the highlights of the eighth St Gallen (Switzerland) meeting in 2003 emphasizes new information that has emerged during the 2 years since the seventh meeting in 2001. This article should be read in conjunction with the report of that earlier meeting. Recommendations for patient care are so critically dependent on assessment of endocrine responsiveness that the importance of high-quality steroid hormone receptor determination and standardized quantitative reporting cannot be overemphasized. The International Consensus Panel modified the risk categories so that only endocrine receptor–absent status was sufficient to reclassify an otherwise low-risk, node-negative disease into the category of average risk. Absence of steroid hormone receptors also was recognized as indicating endocrine nonresponsiveness. Some important areas highlighted at the recent meeting include: (1) recognition of the separate nature of endocrine-nonresponsive breast cancer—both invasive cancers and ductal carcinoma-in-situ; (2) improved understanding of the mechanisms of acquired endocrine resistance, which offer exciting prospects for extending the impact of successful sequential endocrine therapies; (3) presentation of high-quality evidence indicating that chemotherapy and tamoxifen should be used sequentially rather than concurrently; (4) availability of a potential alternative to tamoxifen for treatment of postmenopausal women with endocrine-responsive disease; and (5) the promise of newly defined prognostic and predictive markers.


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