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. 2008:2008:425895.
doi: 10.1155/2008/425895. Epub 2008 Dec 21.

Breast cancer biology: the multifaceted roles of mesenchymal stem cells

Shyam A Patel  1 , Andrew C Heinrich, Bobby Y Reddy, Balaji Srinivas, Nicole Heidaran, Pranela Rameshwar
Affiliations

Breast cancer biology: the multifaceted roles of mesenchymal stem cells

Shyam A Patel et al. J Oncol. 2008.

Abstract

Recent upsurge in the interest of breast cancer metastasis is partly attributed to the discovery of novel, yet unclear, mechanisms of breast cancer interaction with sites of distant metastasis such as the bone marrow microenvironment. In this review, we discuss the significance of the interactions between breast cancer cells and cells of the bone marrow. This is a subject of intense research studies aim to provide new methods of treatments and perhaps the identification of new drug targets. This review also discusses the role of inflammation and the bimodal function of the transforming growth factor-beta signaling pathway in the process of tumorigenesis. We bring attention to future prospects in breast cancer research, including the role of microRNAs in cancer quiescence in the bone marrow and the application of microRNAs to basic science discoveries in oncology. Finally, we discuss the cancer stem cell hypothesis, which is not a new idea, but has resurged with investigative questions.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Model of bone marrow and cell migration patterns by breast cancer cells. Breast cancer cells entering the bone marrow with mesenchymal stem cells aiding the entry of the cancer cells are shown. The figure also shows the migrations of cancer cells to other distant organs. Although mesenchymal stem cells might have roles in the migration of other organs, this mechanism by which this occurs is unclear.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Granzyme B in cancer targeting. Granzyme B expression is increased as CTLs mature. While CD44 is moderately expressed in the early stages of CTL maturation, its expression increases during the maturation process. A mechanism by which antigen priming with IL-2 and IL-15 increases granzyme B induction is shown. In contrast, IL-21 is shown to cause opposing effect [22].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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