Epithelial-mesenchymal plasticity determines estrogen receptor positive breast cancer dormancy and epithelial reconversion drives recurrence
This article has been Reviewed by the following groups
Listed in
- Evaluated articles (preLights)
Abstract
More than 70% of human breast cancers (BCs) are estrogen receptor α-positive (ER + ). A clinical challenge of ER + BC is that they can recur decades after initial treatments. Mechanisms governing latent disease remain elusive due to lack of adequate in vivo models. We compare intraductal xenografts of ER + and triple-negative (TN) BC cells and demonstrate that disseminated TNBC cells proliferate similarly as TNBC cells at the primary site whereas disseminated ER + BC cells proliferate slower, they decrease CDH1 and increase ZEB1 , 2 expressions, and exhibit characteristics of epithelial-mesenchymal plasticity (EMP) and dormancy. Forced E-cadherin expression overcomes ER + BC dormancy. Cytokine signalings are enriched in more active versus inactive disseminated tumour cells, suggesting microenvironmental triggers for awakening. We conclude that intraductal xenografts model ER + BC dormancy and reveal that EMP is essential for the generation of a dormant cell state and that targeting exit from EMP has therapeutic potential.
Article activity feed
-
-
Excerpt
Sleeping Beauties and the case of Epithelial-Mesenchymal Plasticity. Aouad et al., use a mouse intraductal xenografting approach (MIND) to study tumour cell dormancy in ER+ breast cancer.
-