Mammary Cell News Volume 5.30 | Aug 1 2013

Hexokinase 2 Is Required for Tumor Initiation and Maintenance and Its Systemic Deletion Is Therapeutic in Mouse Models of Cancer
Using hexokinase 2 (Hk2) conditional knockout mice, researchers showed that HK2 is required for tumor initiation and maintenance in mouse models of KRas-driven lung cancer, and ErbB2-driven breast cancer, despite continued HK1 expression. [Cancer Cell] Abstract | Graphical Abstract

Targeting Focal Adhesion Kinase in ER+/HER2+ Breast Cancer Improves Trastuzumab Response
The authors investigated the therapeutic potential of focal adhesion kinase (FAK) in ER+/HER2+ breast cancer using the novel FAK-specific inhibitor, PF4554878 (PF878). FAK/HER2 signaling pathway activation was assessed in ER+/HER2- (MCF7, T47D) and ER+/HER2+ (BT474, MDAMB361) breast cancer cells in the presence or absence of PF878 and ± trastuzumab. [Endocr Relat Cancer] Abstract

miR-15a Is Underexpressed and Inhibits the Cell Cycle by Targeting CCNE1 in Breast Cancer
Investigators examined the expression levels of microRNA (miR)-15a in human breast cancer and its potential role in disease pathogenesis. [Int J Oncol] Abstract

Clinical Implications of Ezrin and CD44 Co-Expression in Breast Cancer
Researchers investigated the expression status and clinical implications of the stem cell genes Ezrin and CD44 in breast cancers. Expression of the Ezrin protein in CD44+/CD24-/low tumor cells was detected by western blotting. The resulting expression status and the relationship between Ezrin and CD44 were determined in 726 breast cancers using immunohistochemistry staining and immunofluorescence double staining. [Oncol Rep] Abstract

An Osteopontin Promoter Polymorphism Is Associated with Aggressiveness in Breast Cancer
Scientists analyzed polymorphic sites in the osteopontin promoter as potential contributors to aberrant expression in breast cancers. This study comprised 241 breast cancer specimens, for which DNA from normal surrounding tissue was available for 111, and 65 healthy breast samples. [Oncol Rep] Abstract

Oncogenic Transformation of Mammary Epithelial Cells by Transforming Growth Factor Beta Independent of Mammary Stem Cell Regulation
While transforming growth factor beta (TGFβ) normally has a tumor suppressor role, prolonged exposure to TGFβ can induce an oncogenic epithelial to mesenchymal transition program in permissive cells and initiate the generation of cancer stem cells. Researchers aimed to mimic the transient exposure to TGFβ during involution to determine the persistent effects on premalignant mammary epithelium. [Cancer Cell Int]
Abstract | Full Article

Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome Protein Regulates Leukocyte-Dependent Breast Cancer Metastasis
Scientists showed that mice deficient in the hematopoietic-cell-specific Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein are unable to support tumor-associated macrophage-dependent carcinoma cell invasion and metastasis in both orthotopic and transgenic models of mammary tumorigenesis. [Cell Rep]
Abstract | Full Article | Graphical Abstract

CLINICAL RESEARCH

P16 but Not Retinoblastoma Expression Is Related to Clinical Outcome in No-Special-Type Triple-Negative Breast Carcinomas
Researchers investigated the association between retinoblastoma and p16 protein expression and clinical outcome in no-special-type triple-negative breast carcinomas. [Mod Pathol] Abstract

Molecular Subtypes, Histopathological Grade and Survival in a Historic Cohort of Breast Cancer Patients
Investigators aimed to discover whether reclassification of breast cancer into molecular subtypes provides more precise information regarding outcome compared to conventional histopathological grading and to study breast cancer-specific survival in the different molecular subtypes. Cases of breast cancer occurring in a cohort of women born between 1886 and 1928 with long-term follow-up were included. [Breast Cancer Res Treat] Full Article

Associations between Vitamin D Receptor Polymorphisms and Breast Cancer Risk
Many epidemiologic studies have investigated the association between vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene polymorphisms and breast cancer risk, but the results were inconsistent. Researchers performed a meta-analysis of 31 studies on VDR polymorphisms, including FokI, BsmI, TaqI, and ApaI, and breast cancer risk published before May 2013. [Tumor Biol] Abstract

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Synta Announces ENCHANT-1 Breast Cancer Results Support Transition to Second Stage of Trial
Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp. announced that preliminary results from the ENCHANT-1 clinical trial, which evaluates ganetespib monotherapy in patients with newly diagnosed locally advanced or metastatic HER2 positive or triple-negative breast cancer, achieved the prespecified criteria for advancing to the second stage of the trial. [Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp.] Press Release

Stem Cell Agency’s Board Approves $70 Million Plan to Develop Innovative Alpha Clinics
A $70 million plan to create a new statewide network of sites that will act as a hub for stem cell clinical trials was approved by the governing Board of California’s stem cell agency, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. The goal of the Alpha Stem Cell Clinics Network is to support and accelerate clinical trials for programs funded by the agency, as well as those developed elsewhere by academic researchers, clinicians and pharmaceutical companies. [California Institute for Regenerative Medicine] Press Release

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Faculty Position – Detection and Diagnosis of Solid Tumors (Stanford University)

Postdoctoral Fellowship – Mechanism of Action of Drugs (Celgene Corporation)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Breast Cancer Research (Weizmann Institute of Science)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Breast Cancer Cell Research (Mount Sinai Medical Center/Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Breast Cancer Research (Albert Einstein College of Medicine)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Breast and Renal Cell Carcinoma Research (University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill)

Director of Cell Processing Facility (S L Collins Associates, Inc.)

Postdoctoral Position – Breast Cancer Metastasis (Weizmann Institute of Science)

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