Heterogeneous ER+ breast cancer models allow more accurate drug testing

August 6, 2012 in Cancer

Heterogeneous ER+ breast cancer models allow more accurate drug testing

Enlarge

(Medical Xpress) -- Cell cultures are homogeneous. Human tumors are not. A University of Colorado Cancer Center study recently published in the journal Breast Cancer Research and Treatment reports the development of human-derived estrogen-positive (ER+) breast cancer models that retain their heterogeneity, allowing researchers to more accurately test drugs for this disease.

" is never black or white. These models will allow us to tease apart the shades of grey," says Peter Kabos, MD, investigator at the CU Cancer Center, assistant professor at the CU School of Medicine, and the study's lead author.

What he means is that not all cells in an ER+ breast cancer are ER+. Instead, in a human tumor there may be pockets of cells that depend on estrogen for survival and so are susceptible to anti-estrogen therapies, alongside cancer cells that depend on other mechanisms for their growth. Testing a drug in a homogenous ER+ cell culture may predict little about how the drug performs in a heterogeneous ER+ breast cancer tumor.

This heterogeneity leads to breast cancer's most deadly characteristic: the ability to evolve past anti-. In this theory, doctors may be able to kill ER+ cells with anti-estrogens, but this does nothing to slow the growth of other types of , which soon become the tumor's dominant type. These ER- cells tend to be much more difficult to kill.

"These new heterogeneous breast cancer models allow two things," says Carol Sartorius, PhD, investigator at the CU Cancer Center, associate professor at the CU School of Medicine, and the paper's senior author. "First, we can more accurately test drugs on these models. And second, instead of looking for features that are common to all breast cancers, maintaining a tumor's heterogeneity allows us to ask what's unique to that tumor – not what makes all breast cancers the same, but what makes some breast cancers different than others. As we've seen in the modern push toward personalized cancer care, these unique features may allow us to more effectively target an individual's tumor."

In the recent study, human breast tumor samples derived after surgery were transplanted into animal models, after which the tumor samples maintained their heterogeneity, as in the original tumors.

"The next treatment will come from better understanding of the ratios of ER+ and ER- present in individual tumors and deciphering their hierarchy," Kabos says.

More information: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.g… med/22821401

Journal reference: Breast Cancer Research and Treatment search and more info website

Provided by University of Colorado Denver search and more info website

5 /5 (1 vote)  

Rank 5 /5 (1 vote)
Relevant PhysicsForums posts

More news stories

New colonoscope provides ground-breaking view of colon

A ground-breaking advance in colonoscopy technology signals the future of colorectal care, according to research presented today at Digestive Disease Week(DDW). Additional research focuses on optimizing the minimal withdrawal ...

Cancer created 4 hours ago | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

ASCO: combo antibody therapy effective for melanoma

(HealthDay)—Concurrent use of two immune checkpoint antibodies—ipilimumab and nivolumab—may be effective for the treatment of advanced melanoma, according to a proof-of-principal study presented in ...

Cancer created 23 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Risk factors ID'd for poor cutaneous cell CA outcomes

(HealthDay)—The risks of metastasis and death associated with cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC) are low, but significant, and risk factors for poor outcome include tumor diameter, invasion beyond ...

Cancer created May 17, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Physical & emotional impairments common, often untreated in people with cancer

A new review finds cancer survivors suffer a diverse and complex set of impairments, affecting virtually every organ system. Writing in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, Julie Silver, M.D., associate professor at Harvar ...

Cancer created May 17, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Calif. doc with 'cancer cure' gets 14 years prison (Update)

(AP)—A California doctor has been sentenced to 14 years in federal prison for bilking her patients out of more than $1 million by promising that an herbal supplement could cure late-stage cancer and other diseases.

Cancer created May 17, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0


New research identifies risks, interventions for children's GI health

An increasing number of U.S. children are experiencing gastrointestinal issues that require interventions to resolve, according to research presented at Digestive Disease Week (DDW).

US psychiatry gets makeover in new manual

The latest makeover to a massive psychiatric tome honored by some, reviled by others and even called the "Bible" of mental disorders is being released Saturday with a host of new changes.

New case of SARS-like virus in Saudi: ministry

A new case of the deadly coronavirus has been detected in Saudi Arabia where 15 people have already died after contracting it, the health ministry announced on Saturday on its Internet website.

AIDS science at 30: 'Cure' now part of lexicon

Big names in medicine are set to give an upbeat assessment of the war on AIDS on Tuesday, 30 years after French researchers identified the virus that causes the disease.

For combat veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, 'fear circuitry' in the brain never rests

Chronic trauma can inflict lasting damage to brain regions associated with fear and anxiety. Previous imaging studies of people with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, have shown that these brain regions can over-or ...

Now we know why old scizophrenia medicine works on antibiotics-resistant bacteria

In 2008 researchers from the University of Southern Denmark showed that the drug thioridazine, which has previously been used to treat schizophrenia, is also a powerful weapon against antibiotic-resistant bacteria such as ...