MADRID, Apr 14. (EUROPA PRESS) –
New research led by the Garvan Institute for Medical Research in Australia has revealed how breast cancer cells that develop during or after pregnancy change their environment to form more aggressive tumors.
In experimental models of pregnancy-associated breast cancer, researchers found that cancer cells send signals to surrounding connective tissue to trigger uncontrolled inflammation and remodel the tissue, which in turn helps the cancer to spread.
“Breast cancers that arise during or shortly after pregnancy are very aggressive, as they often become resistant to standard therapies. With 50% of cases fatal, better treatment options are urgently needed,” he says. Dr. David Gallego-Ortega, head of the Garvan Tumor Development Group and co-author of the new study published in ‘Cell Reports’.
“Our study has revealed a crosstalk between these breast cancer cells and their environment that is fueling the right conditions for cancer to metastasize, and reveals inflammation itself as a potential new therapeutic target for the disease,” he adds.
Although a diagnosis of breast cancer is devastating for any patient, the prognosis is much worse for pregnant women and new mothers. One in two women diagnosed with pregnancy-related breast cancer, which affects up to 40 out of 100,000 women who give birth, will lose the battle within five years of diagnosis.
“Survival rates for breast cancer are reduced from 80% to only 52% in the case of young mothers who develop breast cancer during pregnancy,” says co-author Dr. Fátima Valdés-Mora, from the Instituto Childhood Cancer Center, who did the research at the Garvan Institute. “We set out to understand the cellular basis of how pregnancy triggers more aggressive breast cancer and how current treatment could be improved.”
Using next-generation cell genomics technology, the researchers analyzed a snapshot of the gene activity of individual cells found within tumors from an experimental model of pregnancy-associated breast cancer. Interestingly, the researchers observed a series of changes not only in the cancer cells themselves, but in the cells of the surrounding connective tissue.
“In cells of normal breast tissue, when mothers stop breastfeeding, changes in hormonal signals signal the connective tissue surrounding the milk-producing cells to return to their pre-pregnancy shape. But we found that when the cells of the Breast cancer sent similar signals, unleashing changes that allowed inflammation and a faster spread of cancer, “says Dr. Gallego-Ortega.
“Genomic data showed us that, upon receiving signals of pregnancy, breast cancer cells transitioned to the more malignant subtype of ‘basal’ breast cancer,” he continues. “At the same time, the cells” modified. ” their environment, sending signals to surrounding cells to activate inflammation in tumor tissue. “
In their model, the researchers found that cells in the tumor environment were driving the changes that make pregnancy-associated breast cancer highly aggressive: uncontrolled inflammation, tissue remodeling, and the generation of new blood vessels.
The findings have led researchers to explore new therapeutic targets for pregnancy-associated breast cancer. In experimental models, the team intends to test whether treating inflammatory pathways in the tumor environment, some of which can be targeted with existing drugs such as ibuprofen, could reduce the spread of pregnancy-associated breast cancers and improve breast cancers. results of current treatments.
“Pregnancy can provide cancers an escape route from therapy and from their location in the breast,” explains Professor Chris Ormandy, co-author and director of the Garvan Cancer Biology Laboratory. inflammation is a way to stay one step ahead of the disease. “
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