Apoptosis and Tumor Invasion in Breast Cancer
Abstract
Selective Estrogen Response Modifiers (SERMs) are a group of drugs that are currently being developed to kill breast cancer cells without inducing unwanted side effects, such as endometrial cancer. Several of the well established SERMs (such as tamoxifen) have been used clinically to treat patients with disseminated breast cancer, and more recently as a chemoprevention strategy in woman at high risk for breast cancer. We have looked at the mechanism by which these drugs induce tumor regression, and have shown that in cell culture, they stop the cancer cells from dividing and cause a significant percentage of the cells to die by a process called apoptosis. We have also shown that in vitro SERMs do not kill all the estrogen dependent MCF-7 cells. In fact, several of the SERMs (notably tamoxifen), induce a small proportion of the surviving cancer cells to become invasive. We have initiated in vivo experiments using genetically tagged cell lines to determine whether tamoxifen alters the metastatic load when used to treat orthotopically implanted hormone dependent breast cancer cells. Confirmation of the in vitro data would suggest that the decision of which SERM should be used for treatment of organ confined breast cancer or for chemoprevention of breast cancer should be based not only an assessment of the ability of SERMs to induce cell cycle arrest and cell death but also their potential for inducing metastatic behavior in the surviving cells.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 2000
- Accession Number
- ADB267102
Entities
People
- Martin Tenniswood
Organizations
- University of Notre Dame