Live Microscopy of Primary Tumors and Lung Metastasis in Mouse Models of Breast Cancer

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Renske J E van den Bijgaart ◽  
Charlene Lin
2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e15503-e15503
Author(s):  
Jun Lin ◽  
Ru Li ◽  
Yujie Huang

e15503 Background: Metastatic breast cancer is a pressing health concern worldwide. Various treatments have been developed but no significant long-term changes in overall survival are observed. Therefore, there is a demand to improve current therapies to treat this disease. Surgical resection of the primary tumors is essential in the treatment. However, accumulating evidence alludes to a role for volatile anesthetics which are used during the surgery in metastatic tumor development, but the mechanism remains largely unknown. We have shown anesthetics exert different effects on lung metastasis in mouse models of breast cancers. This study analyses the effect of general anesthetics in lung microenvironment associated with the increased metastases. Methods: Balb/c mice and NOD-SCID mice were orthotopically implanted with 4T1 cells and MDA-MB-231 cells respectively, in the mammary fat pad to generate primary tumors. Mice were subjected to the tested anesthetic during implantation and/or before and after surgery. Surgical dissection of primary tumor was performed under anesthesia with sevoflurane or an intravenous anesthetic propofol. Survival curve was constructed and analysed. Mice were euthanized to harvest tissues for histology and cell analysis. Results: As we previously reported, surgical dissection of primary tumor in mice under anesthesia with sevoflurane led to significantly more lung metastasis than with propofol in both syngeneic murine 4T1 and xenograft human MDA-MB-231 breast cancer models. Sevoflurane was associated with increased IL6(Li, Huang, & Lin, 2020). Here we show that anesthesia with sevoflurane resulted in changes of stroma composition in the lung, which was reversed by IL6 pathway interruption. Conclusions: Those results contribute to our understanding of effects of sevoflurane on cancer metastasis and suggest a potential therapeutic approach to overcome the risk of general anesthesia. Li, R., Huang, Y., & Lin, J. (2020). Distinct effects of general anesthetics on lung metastasis mediated by IL-6/JAK/STAT3 pathway in mouse models. Nat Commun, 11, 642.


F1000Research ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eileen Shiuan ◽  
Ashwin Inala ◽  
Shan Wang ◽  
Wenqiang Song ◽  
Victoria Youngblood ◽  
...  

Background: The conventional dogma of treating cancer by focusing on the elimination of tumor cells has been recently refined to include consideration of the tumor microenvironment, which includes host stromal cells. Ephrin-A1, a cell surface protein involved in adhesion and migration, has been shown to be tumor suppressive in the context of the cancer cell. However, its role in the host has not been fully investigated. Here, we examine how ephrin-A1 host deficiency affects cancer growth and metastasis in a murine model of breast cancer. Methods: 4T1 cells were orthotopically implanted into the mammary fat pads or injected into the tail veins of ephrin-A1 wild-type (Efna1+/+), heterozygous (Efna1+/-), or knockout (Efna1-/-) mice. Tumor growth, lung metastasis, and tumor recurrence after surgical resection were measured. Flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry (IHC) were used to analyze various cell populations in primary tumors and tumor-bearing lungs. Results: While primary tumor growth did not differ between Efna1+/+, Efna1+/-, and Efna1-/- mice, lung metastasis and primary tumor recurrence were significantly decreased in knockout mice. Efna1-/- mice had reduced lung colonization of 4T1 cells compared to Efna1+/+ littermate controls as early as 24 hours after tail vein injection. Furthermore, established lung lesions in Efna1-/- mice had reduced proliferation compared to those in Efna1+/+ controls. Conclusions: Our studies demonstrate that host deficiency of ephrin-A1 does not impact primary tumor growth but does affect metastasis by providing a less favorable metastatic niche for cancer cell colonization and growth. Elucidating the mechanisms by which host ephrin-A1 impacts cancer relapse and metastasis may shed new light on novel therapeutic strategies.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (19) ◽  
pp. 10476
Author(s):  
Haa-Na Song ◽  
Hana Jin ◽  
Jung-Hoon Kim ◽  
In-Bong Ha ◽  
Ki-Mun Kang ◽  
...  

Local radiotherapy (RT) is important to manage metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Although RT primarily reduces cancer cells locally, this control can be enhanced by triggering the immune system via immunotherapy. RT and immunotherapy may lead to an improved systemic effect, known as the abscopal effect. Here, we analyzed the antitumor effect of combination therapy using RT with an anti-programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) antibody in primary tumors, using poorly immunogenic metastatic mouse mammary carcinoma 4T1 model. Mice were injected subcutaneously into both flanks with 4T1 cells, and treatment was initiated 12 days later. Mice were randomly assigned to three treatment groups: (1) control (no treatment with RT or immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI)), (2) RT alone, and (3) RT+ICI. The same RT dose was prescribed in both RT-alone and RT+ICI groups as 10Gy/fx in two fractions and delivered to only one of the two tumor burdens injected at both sides of flanks. In the RT+ICI group, 200 µg fixed dose of PD-1 antibody was intraperitoneally administered concurrently with RT. The RT and ICI combination markedly reduced tumor cell growth not only in the irradiated site but also in non-irradiated sites, a typical characteristic of the abscopal effect. This was observed only in radiation-sensitive cancer cells. Lung metastasis development was lower in RT-irradiated groups (RT-only and RT+ICI groups) than in the non-irradiated group, regardless of the radiation sensitivity of tumor cells. However, there was no additive effect of ICI on RT to control lung metastasis, as was already known regarding the abscopal effect. The combination of local RT with anti-PD-1 blockade could be a promising treatment strategy against metastatic TNBC. Further research is required to integrate our results into a clinical setting.


2006 ◽  
Vol 24 (18_suppl) ◽  
pp. 10067-10067
Author(s):  
L. Varticovski ◽  
M. G. Hollingshead ◽  
M. R. Anver ◽  
A. I. Robles ◽  
J. E. Green ◽  
...  

10067 Background: Mouse models have been used extensively in preclinical testing of anticancer drugs. However, few of these models reflect the progression of human disease, and even fewer predict the performance of these drugs in clinical trials. Testing anticancer therapies in genetically engineered mouse (GEM) holds the promise of improving preclinical models and guiding the design of clinical trials. Unfortunately, the use of tumor-bearing GEM is hampered by the difficulty in simultaneously obtaining sufficient numbers of animals with the same stage of tumor development. The additional complexity in testing breast cancer therapies in the mouse is that all 10 mammary glands can develop tumors, frequently at different times. Methods: To circumvent the variable tumor latency and lack of synchrony in GEM, we transplanted tumor fragments or cell suspensions from multiple mammary tumor-bearing GEM into the mammary fat pad or subcutaneously into naïve syngeneic, immunodeficient athymic nude, or scid mice. Results: Tumors transplanted as fragments or cell suspensions derived from anterior mammary gland grew faster than the posterior tumors for serial passages without any significant morphologic differences. Cell suspensions using fresh or frozen cells were equally effective in generating tumors, and increasing the numbers of transplanted cells resulted in faster tumor growth. The transplantation strategy was reproducible in multiple breast cancer mouse models, including MMTV-PyMT, -Her2/neu, -wnt1/p53, BRCA1/p53, and others. Metastatic disease in the lungs was evident after removing the primary tumors at different rates for each mouse model. The transplanted primary tumors and the tumors arising in the original GEM had similar morphologic appearance and sensitivity to several chemotherapeutic and novel molecular targeted agents. Conclusions: We have established transplantable synchronous mammary tumors from GEM which also develop metastatic disease. These valuable mouse models are suitable for studying tumor-host interactions, tumor progression, and preclinical testing in a well-characterized molecular and genetic background. Testing these GEM tumors for conventional and novel molecular targeted therapies will be discussed. No significant financial relationships to disclose.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shunhao Wang ◽  
Jingchao Li ◽  
Mei Chen ◽  
Liting Ren ◽  
Wenya Feng ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Metastasis accounts for the majority of cancer deaths in many tumor types including breast cancer. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is the driving force for the occurrence and progression of metastasis, however, no targeted strategies to block the EMT program are currently available to combat metastasis. Diverse engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) have been reported to exert promising anti-cancer effects, however, no ENMs have been designed to target EMT. Palladium (Pd) nanomaterials, a type of ENM, have received substantial attention in nanomedicine due to their favorable photothermal performance for cancer therapeutics. Herein, Pd nanoplates (PdPL) were found to be preferentially biodistributed to both primary tumors and metastatic tumors. Importantly, PdPL showed a significant inhibition of lung metastasis with and without near-infrared (NIR) irradiation. Mechanistic investigations revealed that EMT was significantly compromised in breast cancer cells upon the PdPL treatment, which was partially due to the inhibition of the transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) signaling. Strikingly, the PdPL was found to directly interact with TGF-β proteins to diminish TGF-β functions in activating its downstream signaling, as evidenced by the reduced phosphorylation of Smad2. Notably, TGF-β-independent pathways were also involved in undermining EMT and other important biological processes that are necessary for metastasis. Additionally, NIR irradiation elicited synergistic effects on PdPL-induced inhibition of primary tumors and metastasis. In summary, these results revealed that the PdPL remarkably curbed metastasis by inhibiting EMT signaling, thereby indicating the promising potential of PdPL as a therapeutic agent for treating breast cancer metastasis.


2022 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leyi Zhang ◽  
Jun Pan ◽  
Zhen Wang ◽  
Chenghui Yang ◽  
Wuzhen Chen ◽  
...  

Breast cancer lung metastasis has a high mortality rate and lacks effective treatments, for the factors that determine breast cancer lung metastasis are not yet well understood. In this study, data from 1067 primary tumors in four public datasets revealed the distinct microenvironments and immune composition among patients with or without lung metastasis. We used multi-omics data of the TCGA cohort to emphasize the following characteristics that may lead to lung metastasis: more aggressive tumor malignant behaviors, severer genomic instability, higher immunogenicity but showed generalized inhibition of effector functions of immune cells. Furthermore, we found that mast cell fraction can be used as an index for individual lung metastasis status prediction and verified in the 20 human breast cancer samples. The lower mast cell infiltrations correlated with tumors that were more malignant and prone to have lung metastasis. This study is the first comprehensive analysis of the molecular and cellular characteristics and mutation profiles of breast cancer lung metastasis, which may be applicable for prognostic prediction and aid in choosing appropriate medical examinations and therapeutic regimens.


F1000Research ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 217
Author(s):  
Eileen Shiuan ◽  
Ashwin Inala ◽  
Shan Wang ◽  
Wenqiang Song ◽  
Victoria Youngblood ◽  
...  

Background: The conventional dogma of treating cancer by focusing on the elimination of tumor cells has been recently refined to include consideration of the tumor microenvironment, which includes host stromal cells. Ephrin-A1, a cell surface protein involved in adhesion and migration, has been shown to be tumor suppressive in the context of the cancer cell. However, its role in the host has not been fully investigated. Here, we examine how ephrin-A1 host deficiency affects cancer growth and metastasis in a murine model of breast cancer. Methods: 4T1 cells were orthotopically implanted into the mammary fat pads or injected into the tail veins of ephrin-A1 wild-type (Efna1+/+), heterozygous (Efna1+/-), or knockout (Efna1-/-) mice. Tumor growth, lung metastasis, and tumor recurrence after surgical resection were measured. Flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry (IHC) were used to analyze various cell populations in primary tumors and tumor-bearing lungs. Results: While primary tumor growth did not differ between Efna1+/+, Efna1+/-, and Efna1-/- mice, lung metastasis and primary tumor recurrence were significantly decreased in knockout mice. Efna1-/- mice had reduced lung colonization of 4T1 cells compared to Efna1+/+ littermate controls as early as 24 hours after tail vein injection. Furthermore, established lung lesions in Efna1-/- mice had reduced proliferation compared to those in Efna1+/+ controls. Conclusions: Our studies demonstrate that host deficiency of ephrin-A1 does not impact primary tumor growth but does affect metastasis by providing a less favorable metastatic niche for cancer cell colonization and growth. Elucidating the mechanisms by which host ephrin-A1 impacts cancer relapse and metastasis may shed new light on novel therapeutic strategies.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shahan Mamoor

Metastasis to the brain is a clinical problem in patients with breast cancer (1-3). We mined published microarray data (4, 5) to compare primary and metastatic tumor transcriptomes for the discovery of genes associated with brain metastasis in humans with metastatic breast cancer. We found that Rab11 family-interacting protein 4, encoded by RAB11FIP4, was among the genes whose expression was most different in the brain metastases of patients with metastatic breast cancer as compared to primary tumors of the breast. RAB11FIP4 mRNA was present at increased quantities in brain metastatic tissues as compared to primary tumors of the breast. Importantly, expression of RAB11FIP4 in primary tumors was significantly correlated with patient recurrence-free survival and distant metastasis-free survival. Modulation of RAB11FIP4 expression may be relevant to the biology by which tumor cells metastasize from the breast to the brain in humans with metastatic breast cancer.


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