Role of Phytochemicals in the Treatment of Breast Cancer: Natural Swords battling Cancer Cells

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajni Sawanny ◽  
Sheersha Pramanik ◽  
Unnati Agarwal
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Epigallocatechin Gallate ◽  
Cancer Therapeutics ◽  
Treatment Modalities ◽  
Breast Cancer Patients ◽  
Scientific Validity ◽  
Phytochemical Study ◽  
Treat Breast Cancer

: Breast cancer is the most common type of malignancy among ladies (around 30% of newly diagnosed patients every year). To date, various modern treatment modalities for breast cancer, such as radiotherapy, surgical method, hormonal therapy, and chemotherapeutic drug utilisation, are available. However, adverse drug reactions, therapeutic resistance, metastasis, or cancer reoccurrence chances remain the primary causes of mortality for breast cancer patients. To overcome all the potential drawbacks, we need to investigate novel techniques and strategies previously not considered and treat breast cancer effectively with safety and efficacy. For centuries, we utilise phytochemicals to treat various diseases because of their safety, low-cost & least or no side effects. Recently, naturally produced phytochemicals gain immense attention as potential breast cancer therapeutics because of their ideal characteristics; for instance, they operate via modulating molecular pathways associated with cancer growth and progression. The primary mechanism involves inhibition of cell proliferation, angiogenesis, migration, invasion, increasing anti-oxidant status, initiation of the arrest of the cell cycle, and apoptosis. Remedial viability gets effectively enhanced when phytochemicals work as adjuvants with chemotherapeutic drugs. This comprehensive review revolves around the latest chemopreventive, chemotherapeutic, and chemoprotective treatments with their molecular mechanisms to treat breast cancer by utilising phytochemicals such as vinca alkaloids, resveratrol, curcumin, paclitaxel, silibinin, quercetin, genistein and epigallocatechin gallate. The authors wish to extend the field of phytochemical study for its scientific validity and its druggability.

scholarly journals Exosomes: A Forthcoming Era of Breast Cancer Therapeutics

Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (18) ◽  
pp. 4672
Author(s):  
Banashree Bondhopadhyay ◽  
Sandeep Sisodiya ◽  
Faisal Abdulrahman Alzahrani ◽  
Muhammed A. Bakhrebah ◽  
Atul Chikara ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Cancer Therapeutics ◽  
Therapeutic Strategies ◽  
Breast Cancer Patients ◽  
Liquid Biopsies ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Tumor Tissues ◽  
Circulating Markers

Despite the recent advancements in therapeutics and personalized medicine, breast cancer remains one of the most lethal cancers among women. The prognostic and diagnostic aids mainly include assessment of tumor tissues with conventional methods towards better therapeutic strategies. However, current era of gene-based research may influence the treatment outcome particularly as an adjunct to diagnostics by exploring the role of non-invasive liquid biopsies or circulating markers. The characterization of tumor milieu for physiological fluids has been central to identifying the role of exosomes or small extracellular vesicles (sEVs). These exosomes provide necessary communication between tumor cells in the tumor microenvironment (TME). The manipulation of exosomes in TME may provide promising diagnostic/therapeutic strategies, particularly in triple-negative breast cancer patients. This review has described and highlighted the role of exosomes in breast carcinogenesis and how they could be used or targeted by recent immunotherapeutics to achieve promising intervention strategies.

Regulation of the breast cancer stem cell phenotype by hypoxia-inducible factors

2015 ◽  
Vol 129 (12) ◽  
pp. 1037-1045 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregg L. Semenza
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Primary Tumour ◽  
Tumour Microenvironment ◽  
Cell Phenotype ◽  
Breast Cancer Patients ◽  
Hypoxia Inducible Factors ◽  
Cancer Stem Cell Phenotype ◽  
Response To Chemotherapy ◽  
Small Subpopulation

The small subpopulation of breast cancer cells that possess the capability for self-renewal and formation of secondary tumours that recapitulate the heterogeneity of the primary tumour are referred to as tumour-initiating cells or BCSCs (breast cancer stem cells). The hypoxic tumour microenvironment and chemotherapy actively induce the BCSC phenotype. HIFs (hypoxia-inducible factors) are required and molecular mechanisms by which they promote the BCSC phenotype have recently been delineated. HIF inhibitors block chemotherapy-induced enrichment of BCSCs, suggesting that their use may improve the response to chemotherapy and increase the survival of breast cancer patients.

Curcumin-based nanoformulations to target breast cancer: current trends and challenges

2021 ◽  
Vol 06 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adnan Badran ◽  
Joelle Mesmar ◽  
Nadine Wehbe ◽  
Riham El Kurdi ◽  
Digambara Patra ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Cancer Treatment ◽  
Therapeutic Potential ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Folk Medicine ◽  
Research Area ◽  
Delivery Systems ◽  
Treatment Modalities ◽  
Anticancer Efficacy ◽  
Future Direction

: Breast cancer remains one of the most common cancers in women worldwide, and despite significant improvements in treatment modalities, the prognosis of this cancer is still poor. Herbs and plant extracts have been associated with various health benefits, and traditional folk medicine is still receiving great interest among patients as proven by accumulated records, tolerable side effects of herbal compounds compared to their synthetic counterparts, and low cost. Curcumin is a polyphenol identified as the main active ingredient in turmeric and has been used in the treatment of various diseases and ailments. Additionally, the pharmacological activities of curcumin on many cancers have been investigated substantially due to its ability to regulate many signaling pathways involved in cancer tumorigenesis and metastasis. However, the low solubility and bioavailability of curcumin limit its benefits, urging the need for new curcumin formulations and delivery systems. Nanotechnology has been widely publicized in cancer treatment not only to overcome the limitations of poorly soluble and physiologically unstable compounds but also to improve the delivery of the drug to the diseased site and cellular uptake. In this review, we summarized the main anti-tumor effect of curcumin and its mode of action on breast cancer and focused on the anticancer efficacy of various and recent curcumin nanoformulations and delivery systems. Such nanotechnological systems could pave the way to address a new future direction in this research area, enhancing the therapeutic potential of curcumin in the treatment of breast cancer. In the next few years, there will be more focus on developing curcumin-based materials for breast cancer treatment.

Quality of Life and Well-Being of Breast Cancer Patients

2020 ◽  
pp. 67-94
Author(s):  
Melisa Anderson ◽  
Dwayne Tucker ◽  
Fabian G. Miller ◽  
Kurt Vaz ◽  
Lennox Anderson-Jackson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Treatment Modalities ◽  
Physical Aspect ◽  
Breast Cancer Patients ◽  
Malignant Breast

Breast cancer is a disease in which there is increased proliferation of malignant breast cells. This disease is more likely to begin in the ducts or lobules rather than the connective tissue. Globally, breast cancer is the most regularly diagnosed cancer. It is also a leading cause of cancer-related mortality in females. While cancer of the breast affects the physical aspect of patients, it can also negatively impact the quality of life (QoL) of survivors. There is a dearth of information, especially in the last decade, on the negative impact of breast cancer and treatment modalities on the QoL of patients. This review of the literature will examine the QoL and well-being of breast cancer patients to present a current perspective on the topic. Major findings of past and present articles that have contributed to improving the care of breast cancer patients will be summarized and included.

scholarly journals Semaphorin signaling via MICAL3 induces symmetric cell division to expand breast cancer stem-like cells

2018 ◽  
Vol 116 (2) ◽  
pp. 625-630 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kana Tominaga ◽  
Hiroshi Minato ◽  
Takahiko Murayama ◽  
Asako Sasahara ◽  
Tatsunori Nishimura ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Breast Cancer Patients ◽  
Asymmetric Cell Divisions ◽  
Symmetric Division ◽  
Cell Divisions ◽  
Tumor Sphere ◽  
Neuropilin 1 ◽  
Niche Factor ◽  
Sphere Formation

Cancer stem-like cells (CSCs) are expanded in the CSC niche by increased frequency of symmetric cell divisions at the expense of asymmetric cell divisions. The symmetric division of CSCs is important for the malignant properties of cancer; however, underlying molecular mechanisms remain largely elusive. Here, we show a cytokine, semaphorin 3 (Sema3), produced from the CSC niche, induces symmetric divisions of CSCs to expand the CSC population. Our findings indicate that stimulation with Sema3 induced sphere formation in breast cancer cells through neuropilin 1 (NP1) receptor that was specifically expressed in breast CSCs (BCSCs). Knockdown of MICAL3, a cytoplasmic Sema3 signal transducer, greatly decreased tumor sphere formation and tumor-initiating activity. Mechanistically, Sema3 induced interaction among MICAL3, collapsin response mediator protein 2 (CRMP2), and Numb. It appears that activity of MICAL3 monooxygenase (MO) stimulated by Sema3 is required for tumor sphere formation, interaction between CRMP2 and Numb, and accumulation of Numb protein. We found that knockdown of CRMP2 or Numb significantly decreased tumor sphere formation. Moreover, MICAL3 knockdown significantly decreased Sema3-induced symmetric divisions in NP1/Numb-positive BCSCs and increased asymmetric division that produces NP1/Numb negative cells without stem-like properties. In addition, breast cancer patients with NP1-positive cancer tissues show poor prognosis. Therefore, the niche factor Sema3-stimulated NP1/MICAL3/CRMP2/Numb axis appears to expand CSCs at least partly through increased frequency of MICAL3-mediated symmetric division of CSCs.

scholarly journals ASPH-notch Axis guided Exosomal delivery of Prometastatic Secretome renders breast Cancer multi-organ metastasis

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiushi Lin ◽  
Xuesong Chen ◽  
Fanzheng Meng ◽  
Kosuke Ogawa ◽  
Min Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Ductal Carcinoma ◽  
Disease Free Survival ◽  
Normal Adult ◽  
Luciferase Reporter ◽  
Breast Cancer Patients ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Premetastatic Niche

Abstract Background Aspartate β-hydroxylase (ASPH) is silent in normal adult tissues only to re-emerge during oncogenesis where its function is required for generation and maintenance of malignant phenotypes. Exosomes enable prooncogenic secretome delivering and trafficking for long-distance cell-to-cell communication. This study aims to explore molecular mechanisms underlying how ASPH network regulates designated exosomes to program development and progression of breast cancer. Methods Stable cell lines overexpressing or knocking-out of ASPH were established using lentivirus transfection or CRISPR-CAS9 systems. Western blot, MTT, immunofluorescence, luciferase reporter, co-immunoprecipitation, 2D/3-D invasion, tube formation, mammosphere formation, immunohistochemistry and newly developed in vitro metastasis were applied. Results Through physical interactions with Notch receptors, ligands (JAGs) and regulators (ADAM10/17), ASPH activates Notch cascade to provide raw materials (especially MMPs/ADAMs) for synthesis/release of pro-metastatic exosomes. Exosomes orchestrate EMT, 2-D/3-D invasion, stemness, angiogenesis, and premetastatic niche formation. Small molecule inhibitors (SMIs) of ASPH’s β-hydroxylase specifically/efficiently abrogated in vitro metastasis, which mimics basement membrane invasion at primary site, intravasation/extravasation (transendothelial migration), and colonization/outgrowth at distant sites. Multiple organ-metastases in orthotopic and tail vein injection murine models were substantially blocked by a specific SMI. ASPH is silenced in normal adult breast, upregulated from in situ malignancies to highly expressed in invasive/advanced ductal carcinoma. Moderate-high expression of ASPH confers more aggressive molecular subtypes (TNBC or Her2 amplified), early recurrence/progression and devastating outcome (reduced overall/disease-free survival) of breast cancer. Expression profiling of Notch signaling components positively correlates with ASPH expression in breast cancer patients, confirming that ASPH-Notch axis acts functionally in breast tumorigenesis. Conclusions ASPH-Notch axis guides particularly selective exosomes to potentiate multifaceted metastasis. ASPH’s pro-oncogenic/pro-metastatic properties are essential for breast cancer development/progression, revealing a potential target for therapy.

scholarly journals Hedyotis diffusaCombined withScutellaria barbataAre the Core Treatment of Chinese Herbal Medicine Used for Breast Cancer Patients: A Population-Based Study

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuan-Chieh Yeh ◽  
Hsing-Yu Chen ◽  
Sien-Hung Yang ◽  
Yi-Hsien Lin ◽  
Jen-Hwey Chiu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Herbal Medicine ◽  
Association Rule ◽  
Association Rule Mining ◽  
Breast Cancer Patients ◽  
Rule Mining ◽  
The Core ◽  
Chinese Herbal ◽  
Hedyotis Diffusa ◽  
Treat Breast Cancer

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), which is the most common type of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) used in Taiwan, is increasingly used to treat patients with breast cancer. However, large-scale studies on the patterns of TCM prescriptions for breast cancer are still lacking. The aim of this study was to determine the core treatment of TCM prescriptions used for breast cancer recorded in the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. TCM visits made for breast cancer in 2008 were identified using ICD-9 codes. The prescriptions obtained at these TCM visits were evaluated using association rule mining to evaluate the combinations of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) used to treat breast cancer patients. A total of 37,176 prescriptions were made for 4,436 outpatients with breast cancer. Association rule mining and network analysis identifiedHedyotis diffusaplusScutellaria barbataas the most common duplex medicinal (10.9%) used for the core treatment of breast cancer.Jia-Wei-Xiao-Yao-San(19.6%) andHedyotis diffusa(41.9%) were the most commonly prescribed herbal formula (HF) and single herb (SH), respectively. Only 35% of the commonly used CHM had been studied for efficacy. More clinical trials are needed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of these CHM used to treat breast cancer.

Genomic heritage of sentinel lymph node metastases: Implications for clinical management of breast cancer patients

2007 ◽  
Vol 25 (18_suppl) ◽  
pp. 571-571
Author(s):  
D. L. Ellsworth ◽  
R. E. Ellsworth ◽  
T. E. Becker ◽  
B. Deyarmin ◽  
H. L. Patney ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Lymph Node ◽  
Lymph Nodes ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Lymph Node Metastases ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Breast Cancer Patients ◽  
Sentinel Nodes ◽  
Axillary Nodes ◽  
Node Metastases

571 Background: Sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy status is a key prognostic factor for breast cancer patients. Sentinel nodes are believed to receive early disseminating cells from the primary tumor, but little is known about the origin of metastases colonizing the sentinel nodes. We used allelic imbalance (AI) to examine genomic relationships among metastases in the sentinel and non-sentinel axillary lymph nodes from complete axillary dissections in 15 patients with lymph node positive breast cancer. Methods: Sentinel nodes were localized by standard scintigraphic and gamma probe techniques using 1.0 mCi technetium-99m sulfur colloid. Pathologically positive nodes were identified by H&E histology and immunohistochemistry. Primary breast tumors and metastases in sentinel and axillary nodes were isolated by laser microdissection. AI was assessed at 26 chromosomal regions and used to examine the timing and molecular mechanisms of metastatic spread to the sentinel and axillary nodes. Results: Overall AI frequencies were significantly higher (p<0.05) in primary breast tumors compared to lymph node metastases. A high level of discordance was observed in patterns and frequencies of AI events between metastases in the sentinel and non-sentinel axillary nodes. Phylogenetic analyses showed that 1) multiple genetically-divergent lineages of metastatic cells independently colonize the lymph nodes; 2) some lymph node metastases appeared to acquire metastatic potential early in tumorigenesis, while other metastases evolved later; and 3) importantly, lineages colonizing the sentinel nodes appeared to originate at different times and to progress by different molecular mechanisms. Conclusions: Genomic diversity and timing of metastatic nodal spread may be important factors in determining outcomes of breast cancer patients. Metastases colonizing the sentinel nodes appear to arise at different times during disease progression and may not be descendants of progenitor cells that colonize the lymph nodes early in tumorigenesis. Metastatic growth in the sentinel nodes thus may be a consequence of stimulating factors from the primary tumor that affect proliferation of previously disseminated cells rather than the timing of metastatic spread. No significant financial relationships to disclose.

Development of a high-performance, blood-based screening diagnostic to detect early-stage breast cancer.

2013 ◽  
Vol 31 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e22083-e22083
Author(s):  
Joseph Wagner ◽  
Karen Chapman ◽  
Maria Prendes-Garcia ◽  
Markus Lacher ◽  
Jennifer Kidd ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
High Sensitivity ◽  
Screening Mammography ◽  
Early Stage Breast Cancer ◽  
Breast Cancer Patients ◽  
Elevated Expression ◽  
Sera Samples

e22083 Background: Limitations of current screening mammography, particularly in younger women, demonstrate the need for an alternative breast cancer screening strategy. A non-invasive, easily interpreted and low cost test should address this need. Methods: Gene expression microarray analysis was carried out on 128 individual tumor samples representing over 20 tumor types, 86 samples representing 31 diverse normal tissue types, 68 tumor cell lines and 97 diverse normal primary cell cultures. Genes were ranked for elevated expression in either: i) a large number and variety of tumors relative to normal tissues, or ii) in breast tumors. Elevated expression was verified for a subset of genes using qPCR in a set of independent RNA samples. Proteins coded by genes elevated in breast cancer samples were analyzed in a retrospective training set of breast cancer patient sera samples with cancer-free patient and benign pathology controls using ELISA or bead-based detection assay. Results: Based on availability of suitable reagents, 25 candidate biomarkers were assessed in patient sera samples (31-227 patient samples per biomarker) using ELISA or bead-based assays. Individually, the performance of individual markers varied (ROC AUC, 0.51 - 0.88); however, when expression levels of the best performing markers were combined, the multiplex test demonstrated high-sensitivity (>80%) and specificity (>90%) in identifying early-stage breast cancer patients. Conclusions: A multiplex, proteomic-based approach may provide for a high-performance, blood-based screening diagnostic for breast cancer.

Pharmacogenetics revisits bevacizumab in breast cancer patients: An ancillary analysis of the UCBG trial COMET—A French multicentric prospective study from R&D UNICANCER.

2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1079-1079
Author(s):  
Gerard A. Milano ◽  
Jean-Yves Pierga ◽  
Jocelyn Gal ◽  
Laurence Llorca ◽  
Coraline Dubot ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Gene Polymorphisms ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Progression Free Survival ◽  
Breast Cancer Patients ◽  
Free Survival ◽  
Pcr Rflp ◽  
Cox Analysis ◽  
Clinical Trial Information

1079 Background: Bevacizumab (Beva) is no longer unanimously recommended in the management of breast cancer (BC). Given the absence of faithful predictors of Beva treatment outcome, we made the hypothesis that constitutional gene polymorphisms could play a role in this context. We report the pharmacogenetic ancillary study of the prospective COMET trial conducted in advanced BC patients (pts) receiving first-line Beva associated with paclitaxel. Methods: Relevant targeted gene polymorphisms were analyzed (blood) in 203 prospective pts (mean age 55.3, median follow-up 24 months). VEGFA at positions -2578C > A (rs699947), -1498T > C (rs833061), -634G > C (rs2010963), and 936C > T (rs3025039) were analyzed by PCR-RFLP. VEGFR1 319A > C (rs9582036), VEGFR2 at positions 604C > T (rs2071559), 1192C > T (rs2305948), 1416T > A (rs1870377), IL8 251T > A (rs4073), CYP2C8 139C > T (rs1572080), 399T > C (rs10509681) and ABCB1 at positions 1199 C > TA (rs2229109), 2677G > TAC (rs2032582) were analyzed by Mass-Array Agena. ABCB1 1236C > T (rs1128503) and 3435T > C (rs1045642) were analyzed by pyrosequencing. All fitted HWE. Results: Median progression-free survival (PFS) was 10.8 months. VEGFR1 319A allele was associated with longer PFS (p = 0.03). The VEGFA-1498T allele was significantly associated with both longer overall survival (OS) (p = 0.005) and PFS (p = 0.065). The VEGFA -2578C allele was associated with greater OS (p = 0.002) and PFS (p = 0.071). These two VEGFA polymorphisms were in linkage disequilibrium (p < 0.0001). Multivariate Cox analysis showed that VEGFA -2578 (p = 0.001) and VEGFR2 1416 (p = 0.025) were significant predictors of OS: the score of favorable alleles (VEGFA -2575C and VEGFR2 1416T) was highly associated with OS (p = 0.0003), with median survival at 24 months being 30% for score 0 (95%CI 15-61), 65% for score 1 (95%CI 55-75) and 90% for score 2 (95%CI 67-90). Conclusions: Application of an easy-to-perform low-cost genotyping test may identify strong predictors of Beva outcome in metastatic BC pts. In the current era of precision medicine, a pharmacogenetic-based personalized Beva therapy deserves to be prospectively validated in BC pts. Clinical trial information: 2012-A00244-39.

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