Chemopreventive Role of Phytoconstituents in Breast Cancer: An Integration Therapy

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Priya Bhatt ◽  
Mehul Patel ◽  
Aashka Thakkar ◽  
Umang Shah ◽  
Ashish Patel ◽  
...  

As we enter into the era of modern medicine, breast cancer remains a significant public health concern that has a noteworthy global impact in developed and developing countries. The modern era has seen an increase in the knowledge of the molecular mechanisms underlying cancer progression, leading to many anticancer drugs. The practice of curing certain diseases with the help of plant-derived compounds was one of the traditional methods. Phytochemicals and derivatives present in plants have shown a promising effect for improving efficiency in the treatment of cancer patients and reducing adverse reactions such as integration therapy with chemotherapeutic agents. The primary objective of this review is to compile ongoing research, preclinical studies, and clinical trials of some of the important phytochemicals. In recent years, increasing evidence from preclinical and clinical studies suggests that phytochemicals can favorably modulate several signaling pathways involved in cancer development and progression. Furthermore, phytoconstituents or plant-derived compounds show synergistic action against breast cancer when integrated with chemotherapy. Thus, the therapeutic potential of naturally occurring phytochemicals is of great interest as a part of integration therapy in cancer care. This review focuses on phytochemicals from quinones, terpenoids, alkaloids, polyphenols, steroidal lactones, and glycosides classes that help treat breast cancer. In addition, the phytochemicals act by various pharmacological mechanisms like carcinogen inactivation, inhibiting proliferation, cell cycle arrest, and apoptosis. Collectively, detailed information about specific classes of phytoconstituents along with their mechanism of action is mentioned in this review.

Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 1521
Author(s):  
Martha Wium ◽  
Aderonke F. Ajayi-Smith ◽  
Juliano D. Paccez ◽  
Luiz F. Zerbini

Resistance to chemotherapeutic agents by cancer cells has remained a major obstacle in the successful treatment of various cancers. Numerous factors such as DNA damage repair, cell death inhibition, epithelial–mesenchymal transition, and evasion of apoptosis have all been implicated in the promotion of chemoresistance. The receptor tyrosine kinase Axl, a member of the TAM family (which includes TYRO3 and MER), plays an important role in the regulation of cellular processes such as proliferation, motility, survival, and immunologic response. The overexpression of Axl is reported in several solid and hematological malignancies, including non-small cell lung, prostate, breast, liver and gastric cancers, and acute myeloid leukaemia. The overexpression of Axl is associated with poor prognosis and the development of resistance to therapy. Reports show that Axl overexpression confers drug resistance in lung cancer and advances the emergence of tolerant cells. Axl is, therefore, an important candidate as a prognostic biomarker and target for anticancer therapies. In this review, we discuss the consequence of Axl upregulation in cancers, provide evidence for its role in cancer progression and the development of drug resistance. We will also discuss the therapeutic potential of Axl in the treatment of cancer.


2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (10) ◽  
pp. R349-R366 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Zabkiewicz ◽  
Jeyna Resaul ◽  
Rachel Hargest ◽  
Wen Guo Jiang ◽  
Lin Ye

Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) belong to the TGF-β super family, and are essential for the regulation of foetal development, tissue differentiation and homeostasis and a multitude of cellular functions. Naturally, this has led to the exploration of aberrance in this highly regulated system as a key factor in tumourigenesis. Originally identified for their role in osteogenesis and bone turnover, attention has been turned to the potential role of BMPs in tumour metastases to, and progression within, the bone niche. This is particularly pertinent to breast cancer, which commonly metastasises to bone, and in which studies have revealed aberrations of both BMP expression and signalling, which correlate clinically with breast cancer progression. Ultimately a BMP profile could provide new prognostic disease markers. As the evidence suggests a role for BMPs in regulating breast tumour cellular function, in particular interactions with tumour stroma and the bone metastatic microenvironment, there may be novel therapeutic potential in targeting BMP signalling in breast cancer. This review provides an update on the current knowledge of BMP abnormalities and their implication in the development and progression of breast cancer, particularly in the disease-specific bone metastasis.


Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1212
Author(s):  
Getinet M. Adinew ◽  
Equar Taka ◽  
Patricia Mendonca ◽  
Samia S. Messeha ◽  
Karam F. A. Soliman

Triple- negative breast cancer (TNBC) incidence rate has regularly risen over the last decades and is expected to increase in the future. Finding novel treatment options with minimum or no toxicity is of great importance in treating or preventing TNBC. Flavonoids are new attractive molecules that might fulfill this promising therapeutic option. Flavonoids have shown many biological activities, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer effects. In addition to their anticancer effects by arresting the cell cycle, inducing apoptosis, and suppressing cancer cell proliferation, flavonoids can modulate non-coding microRNAs (miRNAs) function. Several preclinical and epidemiological studies indicate the possible therapeutic potential of these compounds. Flavonoids display a unique ability to change miRNAs’ levels via different mechanisms, either by suppressing oncogenic miRNAs or activating oncosuppressor miRNAs or affecting transcriptional, epigenetic miRNA processing in TNBC. Flavonoids are not only involved in the regulation of miRNA-mediated cancer initiation, growth, proliferation, differentiation, invasion, metastasis, and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), but also control miRNAs-mediated biological processes that significantly impact TNBC, such as cell cycle, immune system, mitochondrial dysregulation, modulating signaling pathways, inflammation, and angiogenesis. In this review, we highlighted the role of miRNAs in TNBC cancer progression and the effect of flavonoids on miRNA regulation, emphasizing their anticipated role in the prevention and treatment of TNBC.


Life Sciences ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 120047
Author(s):  
Sara Adibfar ◽  
Marischa Elveny ◽  
Hadisha Sh. Kashikova ◽  
Maria Vladimirovna Mikhailova ◽  
Pooya Farhangnia ◽  
...  

Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (22) ◽  
pp. 5616
Author(s):  
Eugenia Fernandez ◽  
Luis Ubillos ◽  
Nabila Elgul ◽  
María Florencia Festari ◽  
Daniel Mazal ◽  
...  

Breast cancer is a public health concern and is currently the fifth cause of mortality worldwide. Identification of different biological subtypes is essential for clinical management; therefore, the role of pathologists is essential and useful tools for immunohistochemistry diagnosis are needed. Polypeptide-GalNAc-transferases are emerging novel biomarkers related to cancer behavior and GalNAc-T13, correlated with aggressiveness in some tumors, is an interesting candidate. Few monoclonal antibodies reacting with native proteins, and not affected by fixation and paraffin embedding, have been reported. The aim of this work was to develop a useful monoclonal antibody anti-GalNAc-T13 and to assess its potential significance in breast cancer diagnosis. We evaluated 6 human breast cancer cell lines, 338 primary breast tumors and 48 metastatic lymph nodes and looked for clinical significance correlating GalNAc-T13 expression with patients’ clinical features and survival. We found high GalNAc-T13 expression in 43.8% of the cases and observed a significant higher expression in metastatic lymph nodes, correlating with worse overall survival. We hypothesized several possible molecular mechanisms and their implications. We conclude that GalNAc-T13 may be a novel biomarker in breast cancer, useful for routine pathological diagnosis. Elucidation of molecular mechanisms related to aggressiveness should contribute to understand the role of GalNAc-T13 in breast cancer biology.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Codruţa Şoica ◽  
Mirela Voicu ◽  
Roxana Ghiulai ◽  
Cristina Dehelean ◽  
Roxana Racoviceanu ◽  
...  

Sex hormone-dependent cancers currently contribute to the high number of cancer-related deaths worldwide. The study and elucidation of the molecular mechanisms underlying the progression of these tumors was a double-edged sword, leading to the expansion and development of new treatment options, with the cost of triggering more aggressive, therapy resistant relapses. The interaction of androgen, estrogen and progesterone hormones with specific receptors (AR, ER, PR) has emerged as a key player in the development and progression of breast, ovarian, prostate and endometrium cancers. Sex hormone-dependent cancers share a common and rather unique carcinogenesis mechanism involving the active role of endogenous and exogenous sex hormones to maintain high mitotic rates and increased cell proliferation thus increasing the probability of aberrant gene occurrence and accumulation highly correlated with abnormal cell division and the occurrence of malignant phenotypes. Cancer related hormone therapy has evolved, currently being associated with the blockade of other signaling pathways often associated with carcinogenesis and tumor progression in cancers, with promising results. However, despite the established developments, there are still several shortcomings to be addressed. Triterpenes are natural occurring secondary metabolites biosynthesized by various pathways starting from squalene cyclization. Due to their versatile therapeutic potential, including the extensively researched antiproliferative effect, these compounds are most definitely a cornerstone in the research and development of new natural/semisynthetic anticancer therapies. The present work thoroughly describes the ongoing research related to the antitumor activity of triterpenes in sex hormone-dependent cancers. Also, the current review highlights both the biological activity of various triterpenoid compounds and their featured mechanisms of action correlated with important chemical structural features.


2022 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sicon Mitra ◽  
Uttpal Anand ◽  
Niraj Kumar Jha ◽  
Mahipal S. Shekhawat ◽  
Suchismita Chatterjee Saha ◽  
...  

Piperine and piperidine are the two major alkaloids extracted from black pepper (Piper nigrum); piperidine is a heterocyclic moiety that has the molecular formula (CH2)5NH. Over the years, many therapeutic properties including anticancer potential of these two compounds have been observed. Piperine has therapeutic potential against cancers such as breast cancer, ovarian cancer, gastric cancer, gliomal cancer, lung cancer, oral squamous, chronic pancreatitis, prostate cancer, rectal cancer, cervical cancer, and leukemia. Whereas, piperidine acts as a potential clinical agent against cancers, such as breast cancer, prostate cancer, colon cancer, lung cancer, and ovarian cancer, when treated alone or in combination with some novel drugs. Several crucial signalling pathways essential for the establishment of cancers such as STAT-3, NF-κB, PI3k/Aκt, JNK/p38-MAPK, TGF-ß/SMAD, Smac/DIABLO, p-IκB etc., are regulated by these two phytochemicals. Both of these phytochemicals lead to inhibition of cell migration and help in cell cycle arrest to inhibit survivability of cancer cells. The current review highlights the pharmaceutical relevance of both piperine and piperidine against different types of cancers.


Tumor Biology ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 101042831769552 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ebubekir Dirican ◽  
Mustafa Akkiprik

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among women in Turkey and worldwide. It is considered a heterogeneous disease and has different subtypes. Moreover, breast cancer has different molecular characteristics, behaviors, and responses to treatment. Advances in the understanding of the molecular mechanisms implicated in breast cancer progression have led to the identification of many potential therapeutic gene targets, such as Breast Cancer 1/2, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase catalytic subunit alpha, and tumor protein 53. The aim of this review is to summarize the roles of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase regulatory subunit 1 (alpha) (alias p85α) and phosphatase and tensin homolog in breast cancer progression and the molecular mechanisms involved. Phosphatase and tensin homolog is a tumor suppressor gene and protein. Phosphatase and tensin homolog antagonizes the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/AKT signaling pathway that plays a key role in cell growth, differentiation, and survival. Loss of phosphatase and tensin homolog expression, detected in about 20%–30% of cases, is known to be one of the most common tumor changes leading to phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase pathway activation in breast cancer. Instead, the regulatory subunit p85α is a significant component of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase pathway, and it has been proposed that a reduction in p85α protein would lead to decreased negative regulation of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase and hyperactivation of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase pathway. Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase regulatory subunit 1 protein has also been reported to be a positive regulator of phosphatase and tensin homolog via the stabilization of this protein. A functional genetic alteration of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase regulatory subunit 1 that results in reduced p85α protein expression and increased insulin receptor substrate 1 binding would lead to enhanced phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase signaling and hence cancer development. Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase regulatory subunit 1 underexpression was observed in 61.8% of breast cancer samples. Therefore, expression/alternations of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase regulatory subunit 1 and phosphatase and tensin homolog genes have crucial roles for breast cancer progression. This review will summarize the biological roles of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase regulatory subunit 1 and phosphatase and tensin homolog in breast cancer, with an emphasis on recent findings and the potential of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase regulatory subunit 1 and phosphatase and tensin homolog as a therapeutic target for breast cancer therapy.


2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (44) ◽  
pp. e2114258118
Author(s):  
Takahiro Masaki ◽  
Makoto Habara ◽  
Yuki Sato ◽  
Takahiro Goshima ◽  
Keisuke Maeda ◽  
...  

Estrogen receptor α (ER-α) mediates estrogen-dependent cancer progression and is expressed in most breast cancer cells. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the regulation of the cellular abundance and activity of ER-α remain unclear. We here show that the protein phosphatase calcineurin regulates both ER-α stability and activity in human breast cancer cells. Calcineurin depletion or inhibition down-regulated the abundance of ER-α by promoting its polyubiquitination and degradation. Calcineurin inhibition also promoted the binding of ER-α to the E3 ubiquitin ligase E6AP, and calcineurin mediated the dephosphorylation of ER-α at Ser294 in vitro. Moreover, the ER-α (S294A) mutant was more stable and activated the expression of ER-α target genes to a greater extent compared with the wild-type protein, whereas the extents of its interaction with E6AP and polyubiquitination were attenuated. These results suggest that the phosphorylation of ER-α at Ser294 promotes its binding to E6AP and consequent degradation. Calcineurin was also found to be required for the phosphorylation of ER-α at Ser118 by mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 and the consequent activation of ER-α in response to β-estradiol treatment. Our study thus indicates that calcineurin controls both the stability and activity of ER-α by regulating its phosphorylation at Ser294 and Ser118. Finally, the expression of the calcineurin A–α gene (PPP3CA) was associated with poor prognosis in ER-α–positive breast cancer patients treated with tamoxifen or other endocrine therapeutic agents. Calcineurin is thus a promising target for the development of therapies for ER-α–positive breast cancer.


Nano LIFE ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 02 (03) ◽  
pp. 1241009 ◽  
Author(s):  
AMITA DAVEREY ◽  
AUSTIN C. MYTTY ◽  
SRIVATSAN KIDAMBI

This article demonstrates that the surface micro-topography regulates the biology of breast cancer cells, including the expression of HER-2 gene and protein. The breast tumor microenvironment is made up of heterogenous mixture of pores, ridges and collagen fibers with well defined topographical features. Although, significant progress has been achieved towards elucidating the biochemical and molecular mechanisms that underlie breast cancer progression, quantitative characterization of the associated mechanical/topographical properties and their role in breast tumor progression remains largely unexplored. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the effect of topography on the adhesion and biology of breast cancer cells in in vitro cultures. Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) surfaces containing different topographies were coated with polyelectrolyte multilayers (PEMs) to improve cell adhesion and maintain cell culture. HER-2 expressing breast cancer cells, BT-474 and SKBr3, were cultured on these PDMS surfaces. We demonstrate that micro-topography affects the cell adhesion and distribution depending on the topography on the PDMS surfaces. We also report for the first time that surface topography down-regulates the HER-2 gene transcription and protein expression in breast cancer cells when cultured on PDMS surfaces with micro-topographies compared to the tissue culture polystyrene surface (TCPS) control. Results from this study indicate that micro-topography modulates morphology of cells, their distribution and expression of HER-2 gene and protein in breast cancer cells. This study provides a novel platform for studying the role of native topography in the progression of breast cancer and has immense potential for understanding the breast cancer biology.


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