Breast cancer is heterogeneous and the existing prognostic classifiers are limited in accuracy, leading to unnecessary treatment of numerous women. B-cell lymphoma 2 (BCL2), an antiapoptotic protein, has been proposed as a prognostic marker, but this effect is considered to relate to oestrogen receptor (ER) status. This study aimed to test the clinical validity of BCL2 as an independent prognostic marker. »
07/27/10

It was shown recently on the level of gene expression that UGT8, coding UDP-galactose:ceramide galactosyltransferase, is one of six genes whose elevated expression correlated with a significantly increased the risk of lung metastases in breast cancer patients. In this study primary tumours and their lung metastases as well as breast cancer cell lines were analysed for UGT8 expression at the protein level. »
08/10/10

Antiestrogen therapies arrest susceptible estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancers by increasing p27. Since Src phosphorylates p27 to promote p27 proteolysis, Src activation observed in up to 40% of ER-positive cancers may contribute to antiestrogen resistance. In this article, we show that treatment with the Src-inhibitor saracatinib (AZD0530) together with ER-blocking drugs increased breast cancer cell cycle arrest via p27. »
07/29/10

We previously isolated cacalol as a free radical-scavenging compound from Cacalia delphiniifolia which is a traditional Asian herbal plant and is believed to have medicinal effects on cancer. In this report, we demonstrated that cacalol has strong anti-proliferation effect on breast cancer cells and induces apoptosis by activating a pro-apoptotic pathway. »
07/28/10

Secondary lymphedema is a debilitating, chronic, progressive condition that commonly occurs after the treatment of breast cancer. The purpose of the current study was to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of the oncology-related literature excluding breast cancer to derive estimates of lymphedema incidence and to identify potential risk factors among various malignancies. »
07/27/10

The combination of increased parity and shorter breastfeeding duration might increase the odds of the least differentiated triple-negative breast cancer (BC) phenotype, theoretically because an expanded progenitor cell population from each pregnancy would incompletely differentiate postpartum. »
07/21/10

Tumour necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) is a member of the tumour necrosis factor cytokine family that induces apoptosis upon binding to its death domain containing receptors, TRAIL receptor 1 (DR4) and TRAIL receptor 2 (DR5). Expression of TRAIL receptors is higher in colorectal carcinoma (CRC) as compared to normal colorectal mucosa and targeted therapy with TRAIL leads to preferential killing of tumor cells sparing normal cells. »
07/30/10

p53 is the most studied tumor suppressor and its overexpression may or may not cause cell death depending upon the genetic background of the cells. p53 is degraded by human papillomavirus (HPV) E6 protein in cervical carcinoma. Several stress activated kinases are known to phosphorylate p53 and, among them cyclin dependent kinase 5 (Cdk5) is one of the kinase studied in neuronal cell system. Recently, the involvement of Cdk5 in phosphorylating p53 has been shown in certain cancer types. Phosphorylation at specific serine residues in p53 is essential for it to cause cell growth inhibition. Activation of p53 under non stress conditions is poorly understood. Therefore, the activation of p53 and detection of upstream kinases that phosphorylate non-genotoxically overexpressed p53 will be of therapeutic importance for cancer treatment. »
07/31/10

Genome-wide and replication association studies (GWAs) have identified multiple loci at which common variants modestly influence the risk of developing prostate cancer (PCa). To enhance the power to identify loci associated with PCa, we constructed a meta-analysis of GWAs on PCa. »
08/05/10

Casein kinase 1 alpha (CK1alpha) is a multifunctional Ser/Thr kinase that phosphorylates several substrates. Among those is beta-catenin, an important player in cell adhesion and Wnt signaling. Phosphorylation of beta-catenin by CK1alpha at Ser45 is the priming reaction for the proteasomal degradation of beta-catenin. »
08/10/10