scholarly journals The Complex Interaction of Matrix Metalloproteinases in the Migration of Cancer Cells through Breast Tissue Stroma

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kerry J. Davies

Breast cancer mortality is directly linked to metastatic spread. The metastatic cell must exhibit a complex phenotype that includes the capacity to escape from the primary tumour mass, invade the surrounding normal tissue, and penetrate into the circulation before proliferating in the parenchyma of distant organs to produce a metastasis. In the normal breast, cellular structures change cyclically in response to ovarian hormones leading to regulated cell proliferation and apoptosis. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are a family of zinc dependent endopeptidases. Their primary function is degradation of proteins in the extracellular matrix to allow ductal progression through the basement membrane. A complex balance between matrix metalloproteinases and their inhibitors regulate these changes. These proteinases interact with cytokines, growth factors, and tumour necrosis factors to stimulate branching morphologies in normal breast tissues. In breast cancer this process is disrupted facilitating tumour progression and metastasis and inhibiting apoptosis increasing the life of the metastatic cells. This paper highlights the role of matrix metalloproteinases in cell progression through the breast stroma and reviews the complex relationships between the different proteinases and their inhibitors in relation to breast cancer cells as they metastasise.

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 1051 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paola Maroni

The most serious aspect of neoplastic disease is the spread of cancer cells to secondary sites. Skeletal metastases can escape detection long after treatment of the primary tumour and follow-up. Bone tissue is a breeding ground for many types of cancer cells, especially those derived from the breast, prostate, and lung. Despite advances in diagnosis and therapeutic strategies, bone metastases still have a profound impact on quality of life and survival and are often responsible for the fatal outcome of the disease. Bone and the bone marrow environment contain a wide variety of cells. No longer considered a passive filler, bone marrow adipocytes have emerged as critical contributors to cancer progression. Released by adipocytes, adipokines are soluble factors with hormone-like functions and are currently believed to affect tumour development. Src-associated in mitosis of 68 kDa (Sam68), originally discovered as a protein physically associated with and phosphorylated by c-Src during mitosis, is now recognised as an important RNA-binding protein linked to tumour onset and progression of disease. Sam68 also regulates splicing events and recent evidence reports that dysregulation of these events is a key step in neoplastic transformation and tumour progression. The present review reports recent findings on adipokines and Sam68 and their role in breast cancer progression and metastasis.


2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karan M Shah ◽  
Luke Tattersall ◽  
Aleana Hussain ◽  
Sarah C Macfarlane ◽  
Alexander Williamson ◽  
...  

Breast cancer metastasis to bone is a major contributor to morbidity and mortality in patients and remains an unmet clinical need. Purinergic signalling via the P2X7 receptor (P2RX7) in the primary tumour microenvironment is associated with progression of several cancers. It has also now become evident that intra-tumoural hypoxia facilitates cancer metastasis and reduces patient survival. In this study, we present data suggesting that hypoxia regulates the expression of P2RX7 in the primary tumour microenvironment; and importantly, inhibition with a selective antagonist (10mg/kg A740003) increased cancer cell death via apoptosis in a E0771/C57BL-6J syngeneic murine model. Furthermore, micro-computed tomography demonstrated reduced number of osteolytic lesions and lesion area following P2RX7 inhibition in absence of overt metastases by decreasing osteoclast numbers. We also demonstrate that activation of P2RX7 plays a role in the secretion of extracellular vesicles (EVs) from breast cancer cells. Mass-spectrometric analyses showed a distinct protein signature for EVs derived from hypoxic compared with normoxic cancer cells which elicit specific responses in bone cells that are associated with pre-metastatic niche formation. Thus, inhibiting P2RX7 provides a novel opportunity to preferentially target the hypoxic breast cancer cells preventing tumour progression and subsequent metastasis to bone


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Grinda ◽  
Natacha Joyon ◽  
Amélie Lusque ◽  
Sarah Lefèvre ◽  
Laurent Arnould ◽  
...  

AbstractExpression of hormone receptor (HR) for estrogens (ER) and progesterone (PR) and HER2 remains the cornerstone to define the therapeutic strategy for breast cancer patients. We aimed to compare phenotypic profiles between matched primary and metastatic breast cancer (MBC) in the ESME database, a National real-life multicenter cohort of MBC patients. Patients with results available on both primary tumour and metastatic disease within 6 months of MBC diagnosis and before any tumour progression were eligible for the main analysis. Among the 16,703 patients included in the database, 1677 (10.0%) had available biopsy results at MBC diagnosis and on matched primary tumour. The change rate of either HR or HER2 was 27.0%. Global HR status changed (from positive = either ER or PR positive, to negative = both negative; and reverse) in 14.2% of the cases (expression loss in 72.5% and gain in 27.5%). HER2 status changed in 7.8% (amplification loss in 45.2%). The discordance rate appeared similar across different biopsy sites. Metastasis to bone, HER2+ and RH+/HER2- subtypes and previous adjuvant endocrine therapy, but not relapse interval were associated with an HR discordance in multivariable analysis. Loss of HR status was significantly associated with a risk of death (HR adjusted = 1.51, p = 0.002) while gain of HR and HER2 discordance was not. In conclusion, discordance of HR and HER2 expression between primary and metastatic breast cancer cannot be neglected. In addition, HR loss is associated with worse survival. Sampling metastatic sites is essential for treatment adjustment.


Planta Medica ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 77 (02) ◽  
pp. 146-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dimitra Chryssanthi ◽  
Petros Dedes ◽  
Nikos Karamanos ◽  
Paul Cordopatis ◽  
Fotini Lamari

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