Mammary Cell News Volume 3.33 | Aug 25 2011

Cancer Stem Cells Made, Not Born
A common theory is that tumors are a hierarchical society, in which all cancer cells descend from special self-renewing cancer stem cells. New findings by scientists, however, point to a much more decentralized society, with cancer cells able to interconvert between different types. [Press release from The Eli and Edythe L. Broad Institute discussing online prepublication in Cell]

Scientists Discover How Antibiotic Molecule Found in Bacteria Stops Breast Cancer
Scientists have discovered how a molecule that was first discovered in bacteria blocks a protein which causes breast cancer to develop and spread. [Press release from Cancer Research UK discussing online prepublication in Nature Chemistry]

Clinical Study Provides Hope for Women with Ovarian Cancer
For the first time, scientists and clinicians were able to reduce tumor size in both BRCA positive patients and patients without the germline genetic mutation related to breast and ovarian cancer. [Press release from BC Cancer Agency discussing online prepublication in The Lancet Oncology]

Clinical Trial Shows Benefit to Adding Avastin to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Breast Cancer Patients
Amid the controversy surrounding the Food and Drug Administration’s ruling that Avastin should no longer be used to treat metastatic breast cancer, a new multinational Phase III clinical trial shows that Avastin significantly increased tumor response rates in breast cancer patients when given before surgery. [Press release from Virginia Commonwealth University discussing research presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology, Chicago]

Peregrine Reports Promising 20.7 Month Median Overall Survival from Phase II Advanced Breast Cancer Trial
Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced 20.7 month median overall survival from a prior single-arm Phase II trial evaluating bavituximab in combination with docetaxel in patients with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer. [Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Press Release]

LABORATORY RESEARCH

Stochastic State Transitions Give Rise to Phenotypic Equilibrium in Populations of Cancer Cells
Here, scientists study the dynamics of phenotypic proportions in human breast cancer cell lines. [Cell]

The Transcription Factor FOXM1 Is a Cellular Target of the Natural Product Thiostrepton
Herein researchers demonstrate that thiostrepton interacts directly with FOXM1 protein in the human breast cancer cells MCF-7. [Nat Chem]

Intersection of Forkhead Box O- and Runt-Related Transcription Factor 1-Mediated Gene Expression Programs in Single Breast Epithelial Cells During Morphogenesis and Tumor Progression
Here, investigators adapted a single-cell expression profiling technique to examine the gene expression program downstream of forkhead box O transcription factors during 3D breast epithelial acinar morphogenesis. [Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A]

Estrogen-Dependent Gene Transcription in Human Breast Cancer Cells Relies Upon Proteasome-Dependent Monoubiquitination of Histone H2B
In this study, scientists investigated the transcriptome-wide effects of the proteasome inhibitor bortezomib on estrogen-regulated transcription in MCF7 human breast cancer cells and showed that bortezomib caused a specific global decrease in estrogen-induced gene expression. [Cancer Res]

ZNF668 Functions as a Tumor Suppressor by Regulating p53 Stability and Function in Breast Cancer
Here researchers report that zinc finger protein 668 (ZNF668) is a nucleolar protein that physically interacts with and regulates p53 and its negative regulator MDM2. [Cancer Res]

p38γ Promotes Breast Cancer Cell Motility and Metastasis Through Regulation of RhoC GTPase, Cytoskeletal Architecture, and a Novel Leading Edge Behavior
Here investigators report that p38γ MAPK regulates breast cancer cell motility and metastasis, in part by controlling expression of the metastasis-associated small GTPase RhoC. [Cancer Res]

FOXO3a Represses VEGF Expression Through FOXM1-Dependent and -Independent Mechanisms in Breast Cancer
Using the lapatinib-sensitive breast cancer cell lines BT474 and SKBR3 as model systems, researchers tested the possibility that vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression is negatively regulated by forkhead box class O (FOXO)3a. [Oncogene]

Macrophage-Elicited Loss of Estrogen Receptor-α in Breast Cancer Cells Via Involvement of Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase and c-Jun at the ESR1 Genomic Locus
In this study, investigators sought to investigate whether elements of the tumor microenvironment, namely macrophages, would impact on estrogen receptor-α (ERα, ESR1) and they found that macrophage-derived factors caused loss of ERα expression in breast cancer cells. [Oncogene]

CLINICAL RESEARCH

Olaparib in Patients with Recurrent High-Grade Serous or Poorly Differentiated Ovarian Carcinoma or Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: A Phase II, Multicenter, Open-Label, Non-Randomized Study
In this phase II, multicenter, open-label, non-randomized study, women with advanced high-grade serous and/or undifferentiated ovarian carcinoma or triple-negative breast cancer were enrolled and received olaparib 400 mg twice a day. [Lancet Oncol]

Prediction of Higher Mortality Reduction for the UK Breast Screening Frequency Trial: A Model-Based Approach on Screening Intervals
In this study, the UK Frequency Trial is simulated in order to gain insight into the results of the trial and to predict the effect of different screening intervals on breast cancer mortality. [Br J Cancer]

Breast Cancer Study with Hemispherx Biopharma’s Ampligen® Commences
Hemispherx Biopharma announced that investigators from the Tumor Vaccine Group at the University of Washington have enrolled their first patient in their 88 patient “Phase I-II Study of HER2 Vaccination with Poly(I) • Poly(C12U) (Ampligen®) as an Adjuvant in Optimally Treated Breast Cancer Patients”. [Hemispherx Biopharma, Inc. Press Release]

Generex Subsidiary Antigen Express Provides Update on Phase II Breast Cancer Immunotherapy Program
Generex Biotechnology Corporation announced that the Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary Antigen Express, Inc. presented an update of the ongoing Phase II trial with an off-the-shelf immunotherapeutic cancer vaccine, AE37, in patients with breast cancer. [Generex Biotechnology Corporation Press Release]

Breast Cancer Drug Not Good Use of Resources, Says Draft Guidance
An independent committee of experts that develops guidance on behalf of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence does not believe that a drug, which can be used to delay the growth of a particular type of advanced breast cancer, represents a good use of NHS resources. [National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, United Kingdom]

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NEW 51st Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy
September 17-20, 2011
Chicago, United States

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