Breast cancer (BC) is the second most commonly occurring malignant disease in
women and one of the leading causes of cancer-related death worldwide, globally
accounting for almost half-a-million deaths per year. In Canada, BC is the second leading
cause of death in women preceded only by lung cancer. Invasion and metastasis are the
most common causes of mortality in patients with BC. Studies show that extracellular
vesicles (EVs) play an important role in immune system evasion, invasion and metastasis.
Studies have shown a significant elevation of EVs in the serum of cancer patients
compared to healthy subjects. Furthermore, elevated secretion of EVs has been correlated
with cancer malignancy. Therefore, it has been suggested that EVs may be an important
non-invasive diagnostic and prognostic tool for cancer. Herein our in vitro studies show
that ER-α is secreted via EVs from MCF-7 cells. Furthermore, our mass spectrometry
(MS)-based proteomic study showed that the proteomic profile of EVs from the plasma of
BC patients differs from that of healthy subjects. In addition, we have also shown that
vesicular abundance of proteins associated with tumour malignancy, such as tissue factor
(TF), plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI-1), a disintegrin and metalloproteinase 12
(ADAM12) and β-Catenin is different between primary tumour and metastatic disease. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:mcmaster.ca/oai:macsphere.mcmaster.ca:11375/20282 |
| Date | January 2016 |
| Creators | Platko, Khrystyna |
| Contributors | Al-Nedawi, Khalid, Health Sciences |
| Source Sets | McMaster University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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