INTRODUÇÃO: O carcinoma ductal in situ da mama é o estágio final antes do carcinoma ductal invasivo (CDI) no processo de carcinogênese mamária. As semelhanças histológicas, moleculares e imunoistoquímicas do epitélio nestas duas lesões tornaram improvável que o epitélio fosse o único responsável pelo processo de invasão estromal. Ao mesmo tempo, foram identificadas importantes alterações nas características do microambiente mamário durante esta transição. As células mioepiteliais, componente do microambiente e cuja rotura determina o diagnóstico histológico do carcinoma invasivo, tem papel direto ou indireto neste processo. A fim de predizer esse risco de invasão, propomos que as características das células mioepiteliais sejam investigadas em conjunto com as características intrínsecas do epitélio neoplásico. OBJETIVOS: Determinar os fatores morfológicos e moleculares das células epiteliais e os marcadores das células mioepiteliais do microambiente em carcinomas ductais in situ da mama relacionados ao risco de invasão estromal. MÉTODOS: Foram selecionados retrospectivamente 236 casos consecutivos com diagnóstico inicial de CDIS seguidos de ressecção cirúrgica na Divisão de Anatomia Patológica da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo no período de janeiro de 2000 a dezembro de 2009, divididos nos grupos 1 (CDIS puro, 90 casos) e 2 (CDIS associado a carcinoma invasor, 146 casos). Blocos de microarranjos de tecido foram construídos com áreas representativas dos CDIS e CDI que foram, então, classificados nos perfis moleculares de acordo com o seu perfil imunoistoquímico. Os marcadores mioepiteliais (vimentina, AML, calponina, p63, CK5/6, SMMHC, CD10) foram avaliados de acordo com a expressão imunoistoquímica baixa ou alta. RESULTADOS: Os perfis moleculares dos componentes in situ e invasivo da mesma lesão foram semelhantes. Os CDIS de baixo grau histológico, em comparação aos CDIS de alto grau, apresentaram maior número de casos com perfil molecular luminal (143 vs. 18) e menor proporção de casos luminal/HER2-positivo (6 vs. 11), HER2 (4 vs. 27) e triplo-negativo (3 vs. 22). Os CDIS no grupo 1, em relação aos CDIS no grupo 2, tiveram maior proporção de casos com expressão de receptores hormonais (84.4% vs. 71,2%) menor expressão de HER2 (76,7% vs. 81,5%), mais perfis moleculares luminal/HER2-positivo (12,2% vs. 4,1%) e menos perfis triplo-negativos (4,4% vs. 14,4%). A expressão de CK5/6 nas células epiteliais do CDIS teve maior proporção entre o subtipo HER2 (34,5%), seguido pelo triplo-negativo (25%), luminal/HER2- negativo (15,4%) e luminal/HER2-positivo (12,5%). A expressão de CK5/6 foi maior nas células epiteliais dos CDIS do grupo 1 em relação aos CDIS do grupo 2 (30,6% vs. 11,3%). A expressão alta de SMMHC nas células mioepiteliais associou-se mais frequentemente aos CDIS do grupo 1 (88,2%) em relação aos CDIS do grupo 2 (11,8%), e esta diferença manteve-se tanto nos CDIS de baixo grau (85,7%) quanto nos de alto grau histológico (92,3%). A expressão baixa de CD10 nas células mioepiteliais associou-se mais frequentemente aos CDIS do grupo 2 (95,6%) em relação aos CDIS do grupo 1 (4,4%), e esta diferença manteve-se tanto nos CDIS de baixo grau (96,4%) quanto nos de alto grau histológico (94,1%). Não houve diferença na expressão de marcadores mioepiteliais de acordo com o perfil molecular baseado na imunoistoquímica. CONCLUSÕES: O risco de invasão estromal em CDIS está associado ao perfil molecular triplo-negativo e à perda de expressão do marcador CD10 pelas células mioepiteliais e é inversamente proporcional à expressão de CK5/6 pelas células neoplásicas e à forte expressão do marcador SMMHC nas células mioepiteliais / INTRODUCTION: Ductal carcinoma in situ is the last step preceding invasive ductal carcinoma in breast carcinogenesis. Histologic, molecular and immunohistochemistry similarities in epithelium of these components make improbable that epithelial changes are sole responsible for the stromal invasion. At the same time important changes were identified in mammary microenvironment during this transition. Myoepithelial cells, components of microenvironment and which rupture is the histological definition of stromal invasion, have a direct or indirect role in this process. We propose an associated investigation of myoepithelial cells and intrinsic neoplastic epithelium caracteristics in view of predict the risk of stromal invasion. OBJECTIVES: To determinate morphologic and molecular factors of epithelial cells and microenvironment myoepithelial cell markers related to stromal invasion risk in ductal carcinomas in situ of the breast. METHODS: 236 cases with initial diagnosis of DCIS followed by surgical ressection were retrospectively selected from Division of Surgical Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Sao Paulo University from january 2000 to december 2009, divided in groups 1 (pure DCIS, 90 cases) and 2 (DCIS associated with invasive carcinoma, 146 cases). Tissue microarrays were constructed with selected areas of DCIS and IDC and those were then classificated in molecular subgroups according to its immunohistochemistry profile. Myoepithelial markers (vimentin, smooth muscle actin, calponin, p63, CK5/6, SMMHC, CD10) were avaliated according to its high or low immunohistochemistry expression. RESULTS: Molecular profiles of in situ and invasive components of the same tumor were similar. Low-grade DCIS showed more luminal profiles than highgrade DCIS (143 vs. 18), and less luminal/HER2-positive (6 vs. 11), HER2 (4 vs. 27) and triple-negative (3 vs. 22) profiles. Group 1 DCIS, compared to group 2 DCIS, showed more cases with hormonal receptor expression (84.4% vs. 71.2%), less expression of HER2 (76.7% vs. 81.5%), more luminal/HER2-positive (12.2% vs. 4.1%) and less triple-negative profiles (4.4% vs. 14.4%). CK5/6 expression in epithelial cells was more frequent in HER2 (34.5%) subtype followed by triple-negative (25%), luminal/HER2-negative (15.4%) and luminal/HER2-positive (12.5%). Epithelial cells in group 1 DCIS showed more CK5/6 expression than cells in group 2 DCIS (30.6% vs. 11.3%). High expression of SMMHC in myoepithelial cells was more frequent in group 1 DCIS (88.2%) than group 2 DCIS (11.8%) and this pattern was also mantained in low-grade DCIS (85.7%) and high-grade DCIS (92.3%). Low expression of CD10 in myoepithelial cells was more frequent in group 2 DCIS (95.6%) than group 1 DCIS (4.4%) and this pattern was also mantained in low-grade (96.4%) and high-grade DCIS (94.1%). There was no significant difference in expression of myoepithelial cells according to molecular profile classified by immunohistochemistry. CONCLUSIONS: Stromal invasion risk in DCIS is associated with triple-negative profile, CD10 expression loss in myoepithelial cells and inversely correlated with CK5/6 expression in neoplastic cells and high expression of SMMHC in myoepithelial cells

O método mais eficaz para detecção de carcinoma mamário ductal in situ é a mamografia, que apesar de apresentar alta sensibilidade, possui baixa especificidade e não demonstra todos os casos deste tipo de lesão. Assim sendo, pesquisadores têm desenvolvido modalidades por imagem adjuntas à mamografia, das quais a mais promissora talvez seja a ressonância magnética mamária de alta resolução. Neste estudo investigou-se a capacidade da ressonância magnética, realizada em aparelho de 1,5 Tesla, com gradientes de alto desempenho, uso de bobina de superfície dedicada para mama e agente paramagnético por via endovenosa, em demonstrar focos de carcinoma ductal in situ em sua forma pura. Realizou-se análise retrospectiva em 24 pacientes que apresentaram este diagnóstico histológico e haviam sido submetidas à mamografia e à ressonância magnética. Evidenciou-se baixa reprodutibilidade entre os achados mamográficos e os da ressonância magnética mamaria, com discordância em 13 dos 24 casos (54%). Mesmo assim, concluiu-se que a ressonância magnética mamária foi valiosa, pois apesar de ter sido negativa em 5 dos 16 casos mamograficamente detectados (20,83%) revelou 8 focos de carcinoma ductal in situ não vistos à mamografia (33,33%), contribuindo de modo decisivo para o planejamento terapêutico destas pacientes. / Mammography is the most effective method to detect ductal carcinoma in situ of the breast. However, despite its high sensitivity, its specificity is low and some foci of ductal carcinoma in situ may not be detected by it. This fact has encouraged researchers to develop imaging methods adjunctive to mammography of which high resolution magnetic resonance imaging is perhaps the most promising. The purpose of this study is to investigate the ability of magnetic resonance imaging, performed in a 1.5 Tesla system with high performance gradients, the use of breast dedicated surface coil and intravenous paramagnetic agent to demonstrate foci of pure ductal carcinoma in situ. Retrospective analysis was performed to the examinations of 24 patients with this pathologic diagnosis that have been subjected to both mammography and breast magnetic resonance imaging. This study revealed that the concordance rates between mammography and magnetic resonance imaging provided low reprodutibility, being discordant in 13 of the 24 cases (54%). However, we concluded that breast magnetic resonance imaging was valuable because, despite of not depicting 5 of 16 mammographically detected cases (20,83%), it was able to detect 8 foci of ductal carcinoma in situ exclusively (33,33%), contributing to the therapeutic planning for these patients.

INTRODUÇÃO: O carcinoma ductal in situ da mama é o estágio final antes do carcinoma ductal invasivo (CDI) no processo de carcinogênese mamária. As semelhanças histológicas, moleculares e imunoistoquímicas do epitélio nestas duas lesões tornaram improvável que o epitélio fosse o único responsável pelo processo de invasão estromal. Ao mesmo tempo, foram identificadas importantes alterações nas características do microambiente mamário durante esta transição. As células mioepiteliais, componente do microambiente e cuja rotura determina o diagnóstico histológico do carcinoma invasivo, tem papel direto ou indireto neste processo. A fim de predizer esse risco de invasão, propomos que as características das células mioepiteliais sejam investigadas em conjunto com as características intrínsecas do epitélio neoplásico. OBJETIVOS: Determinar os fatores morfológicos e moleculares das células epiteliais e os marcadores das células mioepiteliais do microambiente em carcinomas ductais in situ da mama relacionados ao risco de invasão estromal. MÉTODOS: Foram selecionados retrospectivamente 236 casos consecutivos com diagnóstico inicial de CDIS seguidos de ressecção cirúrgica na Divisão de Anatomia Patológica da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo no período de janeiro de 2000 a dezembro de 2009, divididos nos grupos 1 (CDIS puro, 90 casos) e 2 (CDIS associado a carcinoma invasor, 146 casos). Blocos de microarranjos de tecido foram construídos com áreas representativas dos CDIS e CDI que foram, então, classificados nos perfis moleculares de acordo com o seu perfil imunoistoquímico. Os marcadores mioepiteliais (vimentina, AML, calponina, p63, CK5/6, SMMHC, CD10) foram avaliados de acordo com a expressão imunoistoquímica baixa ou alta. RESULTADOS: Os perfis moleculares dos componentes in situ e invasivo da mesma lesão foram semelhantes. Os CDIS de baixo grau histológico, em comparação aos CDIS de alto grau, apresentaram maior número de casos com perfil molecular luminal (143 vs. 18) e menor proporção de casos luminal/HER2-positivo (6 vs. 11), HER2 (4 vs. 27) e triplo-negativo (3 vs. 22). Os CDIS no grupo 1, em relação aos CDIS no grupo 2, tiveram maior proporção de casos com expressão de receptores hormonais (84.4% vs. 71,2%) menor expressão de HER2 (76,7% vs. 81,5%), mais perfis moleculares luminal/HER2-positivo (12,2% vs. 4,1%) e menos perfis triplo-negativos (4,4% vs. 14,4%). A expressão de CK5/6 nas células epiteliais do CDIS teve maior proporção entre o subtipo HER2 (34,5%), seguido pelo triplo-negativo (25%), luminal/HER2- negativo (15,4%) e luminal/HER2-positivo (12,5%). A expressão de CK5/6 foi maior nas células epiteliais dos CDIS do grupo 1 em relação aos CDIS do grupo 2 (30,6% vs. 11,3%). A expressão alta de SMMHC nas células mioepiteliais associou-se mais frequentemente aos CDIS do grupo 1 (88,2%) em relação aos CDIS do grupo 2 (11,8%), e esta diferença manteve-se tanto nos CDIS de baixo grau (85,7%) quanto nos de alto grau histológico (92,3%). A expressão baixa de CD10 nas células mioepiteliais associou-se mais frequentemente aos CDIS do grupo 2 (95,6%) em relação aos CDIS do grupo 1 (4,4%), e esta diferença manteve-se tanto nos CDIS de baixo grau (96,4%) quanto nos de alto grau histológico (94,1%). Não houve diferença na expressão de marcadores mioepiteliais de acordo com o perfil molecular baseado na imunoistoquímica. CONCLUSÕES: O risco de invasão estromal em CDIS está associado ao perfil molecular triplo-negativo e à perda de expressão do marcador CD10 pelas células mioepiteliais e é inversamente proporcional à expressão de CK5/6 pelas células neoplásicas e à forte expressão do marcador SMMHC nas células mioepiteliais / INTRODUCTION: Ductal carcinoma in situ is the last step preceding invasive ductal carcinoma in breast carcinogenesis. Histologic, molecular and immunohistochemistry similarities in epithelium of these components make improbable that epithelial changes are sole responsible for the stromal invasion. At the same time important changes were identified in mammary microenvironment during this transition. Myoepithelial cells, components of microenvironment and which rupture is the histological definition of stromal invasion, have a direct or indirect role in this process. We propose an associated investigation of myoepithelial cells and intrinsic neoplastic epithelium caracteristics in view of predict the risk of stromal invasion. OBJECTIVES: To determinate morphologic and molecular factors of epithelial cells and microenvironment myoepithelial cell markers related to stromal invasion risk in ductal carcinomas in situ of the breast. METHODS: 236 cases with initial diagnosis of DCIS followed by surgical ressection were retrospectively selected from Division of Surgical Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Sao Paulo University from january 2000 to december 2009, divided in groups 1 (pure DCIS, 90 cases) and 2 (DCIS associated with invasive carcinoma, 146 cases). Tissue microarrays were constructed with selected areas of DCIS and IDC and those were then classificated in molecular subgroups according to its immunohistochemistry profile. Myoepithelial markers (vimentin, smooth muscle actin, calponin, p63, CK5/6, SMMHC, CD10) were avaliated according to its high or low immunohistochemistry expression. RESULTS: Molecular profiles of in situ and invasive components of the same tumor were similar. Low-grade DCIS showed more luminal profiles than highgrade DCIS (143 vs. 18), and less luminal/HER2-positive (6 vs. 11), HER2 (4 vs. 27) and triple-negative (3 vs. 22) profiles. Group 1 DCIS, compared to group 2 DCIS, showed more cases with hormonal receptor expression (84.4% vs. 71.2%), less expression of HER2 (76.7% vs. 81.5%), more luminal/HER2-positive (12.2% vs. 4.1%) and less triple-negative profiles (4.4% vs. 14.4%). CK5/6 expression in epithelial cells was more frequent in HER2 (34.5%) subtype followed by triple-negative (25%), luminal/HER2-negative (15.4%) and luminal/HER2-positive (12.5%). Epithelial cells in group 1 DCIS showed more CK5/6 expression than cells in group 2 DCIS (30.6% vs. 11.3%). High expression of SMMHC in myoepithelial cells was more frequent in group 1 DCIS (88.2%) than group 2 DCIS (11.8%) and this pattern was also mantained in low-grade DCIS (85.7%) and high-grade DCIS (92.3%). Low expression of CD10 in myoepithelial cells was more frequent in group 2 DCIS (95.6%) than group 1 DCIS (4.4%) and this pattern was also mantained in low-grade (96.4%) and high-grade DCIS (94.1%). There was no significant difference in expression of myoepithelial cells according to molecular profile classified by immunohistochemistry. CONCLUSIONS: Stromal invasion risk in DCIS is associated with triple-negative profile, CD10 expression loss in myoepithelial cells and inversely correlated with CK5/6 expression in neoplastic cells and high expression of SMMHC in myoepithelial cells

<p>The incidence of breast cancer is rising steadily in Sweden and the proportion of carcinoma in situ (CIS) has increased appreciably, most likely due to mammography screening. The aim of this study was twofold: (1) to examine risk factors for subsequent invasive breast carcinoma and breast cancer death after primary ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) and (2) to study the biology in the progress between in situ and invasive carcinoma.</p><p> In a cohort-study based on 3,398 women with a primary CIS reported to the Swedish Cancer Registry (SCR) 1980-1992, women diagnosed in 1989-1992 ran a relative risk of 0.1 (CI 95%, 0.0-0.9) from dying of breast cancer as compared with women diagnosed in 1980-1982. Women in counties with mammography screening ran a relative risk of 0.2 (CI 95%, 0.0-2.1) for breast cancer death in comparison with women in non-screening counties.</p><p> In a case-control study derived from all 4,661 women with primary CIS reported to the SCR 1960-1992, we investigated risk factors for subsequent invasive breast carcinoma (n=118) and breast cancer death (n=39). Large size and multifocality were found to increase the risk for breast cancer death. Postoperative radiotherapy and mastectomy lowered the risk for ipsilateral invasive cancer.</p><p> The standardised incidence rates (SIR) for invasive breast cancer were estimated in the cohort from 1980-1992. The SIR after primary DCIS and primary lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS) was 4.5 (CI 95%, 3.7-5.5) and 4.0 (CI 95%, 2.1-7.5), respectively.</p><p> New histopathological classification systems for DCIS were evaluated in 195 women consecutively diagnosed with primary DCIS between 1986-1994. One group with highly differentiated lesions was defined with the EORTC classification system and had an excellent prognosis.</p><p> Histopathological grade and expression of p53, c-erbB-2, Ki 67, hormone receptors, Bcl-2 and angiogenesis were compared in 626 women with either a pure DCIS, a small invasive carcinoma or a lesion with both an invasive and in situ component. When grade was taken into account, no change in tumour markers could be detected that signalled the progression from an in situ stage to invasiveness. All tumour markers correlated to grade and their distribution was very similar in the two components of mixed lesions.</p>

The incidence of breast cancer is rising steadily in Sweden and the proportion of carcinoma in situ (CIS) has increased appreciably, most likely due to mammography screening. The aim of this study was twofold: (1) to examine risk factors for subsequent invasive breast carcinoma and breast cancer death after primary ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) and (2) to study the biology in the progress between in situ and invasive carcinoma. In a cohort-study based on 3,398 women with a primary CIS reported to the Swedish Cancer Registry (SCR) 1980-1992, women diagnosed in 1989-1992 ran a relative risk of 0.1 (CI 95%, 0.0-0.9) from dying of breast cancer as compared with women diagnosed in 1980-1982. Women in counties with mammography screening ran a relative risk of 0.2 (CI 95%, 0.0-2.1) for breast cancer death in comparison with women in non-screening counties. In a case-control study derived from all 4,661 women with primary CIS reported to the SCR 1960-1992, we investigated risk factors for subsequent invasive breast carcinoma (n=118) and breast cancer death (n=39). Large size and multifocality were found to increase the risk for breast cancer death. Postoperative radiotherapy and mastectomy lowered the risk for ipsilateral invasive cancer. The standardised incidence rates (SIR) for invasive breast cancer were estimated in the cohort from 1980-1992. The SIR after primary DCIS and primary lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS) was 4.5 (CI 95%, 3.7-5.5) and 4.0 (CI 95%, 2.1-7.5), respectively. New histopathological classification systems for DCIS were evaluated in 195 women consecutively diagnosed with primary DCIS between 1986-1994. One group with highly differentiated lesions was defined with the EORTC classification system and had an excellent prognosis. Histopathological grade and expression of p53, c-erbB-2, Ki 67, hormone receptors, Bcl-2 and angiogenesis were compared in 626 women with either a pure DCIS, a small invasive carcinoma or a lesion with both an invasive and in situ component. When grade was taken into account, no change in tumour markers could be detected that signalled the progression from an in situ stage to invasiveness. All tumour markers correlated to grade and their distribution was very similar in the two components of mixed lesions.

O método mais eficaz para detecção de carcinoma mamário ductal in situ é a mamografia, que apesar de apresentar alta sensibilidade, possui baixa especificidade e não demonstra todos os casos deste tipo de lesão. Assim sendo, pesquisadores têm desenvolvido modalidades por imagem adjuntas à mamografia, das quais a mais promissora talvez seja a ressonância magnética mamária de alta resolução. Neste estudo investigou-se a capacidade da ressonância magnética, realizada em aparelho de 1,5 Tesla, com gradientes de alto desempenho, uso de bobina de superfície dedicada para mama e agente paramagnético por via endovenosa, em demonstrar focos de carcinoma ductal in situ em sua forma pura. Realizou-se análise retrospectiva em 24 pacientes que apresentaram este diagnóstico histológico e haviam sido submetidas à mamografia e à ressonância magnética. Evidenciou-se baixa reprodutibilidade entre os achados mamográficos e os da ressonância magnética mamaria, com discordância em 13 dos 24 casos (54%). Mesmo assim, concluiu-se que a ressonância magnética mamária foi valiosa, pois apesar de ter sido negativa em 5 dos 16 casos mamograficamente detectados (20,83%) revelou 8 focos de carcinoma ductal in situ não vistos à mamografia (33,33%), contribuindo de modo decisivo para o planejamento terapêutico destas pacientes. / Mammography is the most effective method to detect ductal carcinoma in situ of the breast. However, despite its high sensitivity, its specificity is low and some foci of ductal carcinoma in situ may not be detected by it. This fact has encouraged researchers to develop imaging methods adjunctive to mammography of which high resolution magnetic resonance imaging is perhaps the most promising. The purpose of this study is to investigate the ability of magnetic resonance imaging, performed in a 1.5 Tesla system with high performance gradients, the use of breast dedicated surface coil and intravenous paramagnetic agent to demonstrate foci of pure ductal carcinoma in situ. Retrospective analysis was performed to the examinations of 24 patients with this pathologic diagnosis that have been subjected to both mammography and breast magnetic resonance imaging. This study revealed that the concordance rates between mammography and magnetic resonance imaging provided low reprodutibility, being discordant in 13 of the 24 cases (54%). However, we concluded that breast magnetic resonance imaging was valuable because, despite of not depicting 5 of 16 mammographically detected cases (20,83%), it was able to detect 8 foci of ductal carcinoma in situ exclusively (33,33%), contributing to the therapeutic planning for these patients.

BACKGROUND:Primary cilia are microtubule-based organelles that protrude from the cell surface. Primary cilia play a critical role in development and disease through regulation of signaling pathways including the Hedgehog pathway. Recent mouse models have also linked ciliary dysfunction to cancer. However, little is known about the role of primary cilia in breast cancer development. Primary cilia expression was characterized in cancer cells as well as their surrounding stromal cells from 86 breast cancer patients by counting cilia and measuring cilia length. In addition, we examined cilia expression in normal epithelial and stromal cells from reduction mammoplasties as well as histologically normal adjacent tissue for comparison.RESULTS:We observed a statistically significant decrease in the percentage of ciliated cells on both premalignant lesions as well as in invasive cancers. This loss of cilia does not correlate with increased proliferative index (Ki67-positive cells). However, we did detect rare ciliated cancer cells present in patients with invasive breast cancer and found that these express a marker of basaloid cancers that is associated with poor prognosis (Cytokeratin 5). Interestingly, the percentage of ciliated stromal cells associated with both premalignant and invasive cancers decreased when compared to stromal cells associated with normal tissue. To understand how cilia may be lost during cancer development we analyzed the expression of genes required for ciliogenesis and/or ciliary function and compared their expression in normal versus breast cancer samples. We found that expression of ciliary genes were frequently downregulated in human breast cancers.CONCLUSIONS:These data suggest that primary cilia are lost early in breast cancer development on both the cancer cells and their surrounding stromal cells.

Alterations to the tumour microenvironment is a common feature of many cancers, including breast cancer, and there is increasing evidence that alterations to the microenvironment, including; increased integrin expression, ECM deposition and protease activity, promote cancer progression. Most invasive breast cancers arise from a preinvasive stage, ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). Previous work in our laboratory has shown the microenvironment of DCIS is altered, such that myoepithelial cells (MECs) switch to a tumour-promoting phenotype, associated with upregulation of integrin αvβ6 and fibronectin (FN) expression. Mechanisms by which integrin αvβ6 and FN expression are regulated is unclear. We show DCIS progression into invasion is accompanied by an increase in MEC expression of integrin αvβ6 and periductal FN deposition, and their expression were associated in DCIS. These findings were modelled in isolated primary DCIS-MECs, primary normal MECs and MEC lines, with and without integrin αvβ6 expression, where integrin αvβ6-positive MECs upregulating FN expression. We identified integrin αvβ6-positive DCIS ducts were larger than integrin αvβ6-negative DCIS ducts, and mechanical stretching of primary normal MECs and a normal MEC line led to upregulation of integrin αvβ6 expression and FN deposition in a TGFβ-dependent manner. We further show upregulation of integrin αvβ6 and FN by MECs mediate TGFβ-dependent upregulation of MMP13 which promotes breast cancer cell invasion in vitro. These data show altered tissue mechanics in DCIS and MEC expression of integrin αvβ6 and FN deposition are linked, and implicate TGFβ in their activation. These findings suggest integrin αvβ6 and FN may be used as markers to stratify DCIS patients.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2009. / Title from first page of PDF file (viewed on June 10, 2009). Includes bibliographical references.

Elevated level of lipogenic enzymes and overall lipogenesis have been reported in a wide variety of cancers and blocking the lipogenic pathway by chemical inhibitors or RNA interference causes tumor cell death by apoptosis which provides a strong rationale for targeting lipogenic pathway for the treatment and prevention of cancer however the exact role of lipogenesis as a cause, facilitator or consequence is not yet clearly understood. Therefore in this dissertation research, we set up to determine the mechanism of tumor cell death by inhibiting lipogenesis and to determine the role of increased lipogenesis in the breast cancer progression. In the first part of this study, we investigated the status of fatty acid synthase (FAS) gene which is regarded as the key lipogenic gene in fatty acid biosynthetic pathway and is responsible for the synthesis of lipid molecules by facilitating the condensation reaction between acetyl-CoA and malonyl-CoA in the presence of NADPH. We observed that normal breast epithelial cells MCF10A cells have very low level of FAS expression whereas breast cancer cell lines MCF7, MDA MB231 and MDA MB231 LM have significant overexpression. Next, we observed the similar trend of FAS overexpression in breast cancer stem-like cells (CSCs) isolated from the MCF7, MDA MB231 and MDA MB231 LM cell lines using cell surface markers (CD24-/CD44+/ESA+). These cells were previously transplanted into the mammary fat pad of nude mice and the results of our limiting dilution analysis indicate that CSCs had a significantly higher ability of forming breast cancer in the injected animals which explains our rationale to use CSCs in our research. In order to exploit this lipogenic pathway for the treatment and chemoprevention of breast cancer, we then examined the effects of resveratrol on breast cancer cells. Resveratrol is a natural polyphenolic compound and has been shown to exhibit cardio-protective as well as anti-neoplastic effects on various types of cancers. However, the exact mechanism of its anti-tumor effect is not clearly defined. We observed that resveratrol significantly reduced the cell viability by inducing apoptosis in parental cells as well as in CSCs. Resveratrol also inhibited mammosphere formation which is an inherent property of CSCs. This inhibitory effect of resveratrol is accompanied by a significant reduction in lipid synthesis which is caused by the down-regulation of the FAS gene followed by up-regulation of pro-apoptotic genes, DAPK2 and BNIP3. The activation of apoptotic pathway in the cancer stem-like cells was suppressed by FAS overexpression suggesting that resveratrol-induced apoptosis is indeed through the modulation of FAS-mediated cell survival signaling. Importantly, resveratrol was able to significantly suppress the growth of CSC in an animal model of human breast cancer xenograft without showing apparental toxicity. Taken together, our results indicate that resveratrol is capable of inducing apoptosis in the CSCs through suppression of lipogenesis by modulating FAS expression, which highlights a novel mechanism of anti-tumor effect of resveratrol. Taken together, our results indicate that resveratrol is capable of inducing apoptosis in the cancer stem-like cells through suppression of lipogenesis by modulating FAS expression, which highlights a novel mechanism of anti-tumor effect of resveratrol. In the second part of research, we tried to determine the role of elevated level of lipogenesis in normal to ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) progression. For this, we first analyzed the expression profile of various lipogenic genes using an expression microarray and found that CSCs from DCIS.com showed significantly higher level of ATP-citrate lyase (ACLY), acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) and FAS than the normal non-tumorigenic stem-like cells obtained from MCF10A. The result was also confirmed by qRT-PCR and Western blot as well as in clinical specimens of DCIS by immunohistochemistry. In the next step, we detected that SREBP1, the master regulator of lipogenic genes, is also upregulated in DCIS and further identified that SREBP1 regulates the co-ordinate expression of ACLY, ACC and FAS ultimately resulting in the elevation of lipogenesis. In order to determine the role of SREBP1 overexpression in normal to DCIS transition, we overexpressed the SREBP1 in MCF10A cells which induced a significant increase in the downstream key lipogenic genes ACLY, ACC1 and FAS which resulted in the clear upregulation of total lipid content in the cells. Furthermore, we found that this elevation of lipogenesis in MCF10A-SREBP1 stem-like cells confers proliferative advantage as well as a significant increase in mammosphere forming ability and anchorage independent growth (3D culture). Thus, our results showed a possibility that increased lipogenesis in normal stem-like cells may be responsible for providing oncogenic transformation properties which can be confirmed at least in our in vitro model. We then examined the effects of resveratrol on CSCs sorted from DCIS.com. We found that resveratrol decreased the cell viability and increased apoptosis by reducing the total lipid content by inhibiting the expression of SREBP1 and downstream lipogenic genes. Resveratrol also hindered the stemness of the DCIS CSCs by inhibiting its mammosphere forming ability. When DCIS CSCs were transplanted into mammary fat pad of nude mice which were on resveratrol treatment, we observed that resveratrol significantly suppressed the formation of DCIS by downregulating lipogenic genes and by upregulating pro-apoptotic genes, DAPK2 and BNIP3. Collectively, our results indicate that lipogenic genes SREBP1 co-ordinately regulates the overexpression of ACLY, ACC1 and FAS in DCIS CSCs at an early stage of breast tumorigenesis and thus confer proliferative and survival advantages. Anti-growth effect of resveratrol on DCIS CSCs also provides us with a strong rationale to use this agent for chemo-prevention against DCIS.