Caderina-P como possivel biomarcador para identificar o fenótipo metastático das células de cancro da mama

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Caderina-P como possivel biomarcador para identificar o fenótipo metastático das células de cancro da mama

Sexta, 13.02.2015

Investigadoras do grupo de Genética do Cancro do Ipatimup (Joana Paredes e Ana Sofia Ribeiro) focam o seu estudo na Caderina-P, uma molécula de adesão celular que promove o crescimento tumoral e a invasão de células neoplásicas, sendo um marcador de mau prognóstico no cancro da mama.
Neste artigo, as investigadoras resumem as várias evidências científicas de como a expressão desta molécula está envolvida no processo de invasão e metastização das células do cancro da mama. O artigo lança uma nova hipótese de como a caderina-P poderá ser um novo marcador capaz de identificar um estado de transição durante o processo de invasão, que poderá estar associado a um fenótipo metastático. Este trabalho sugere o uso de caderina-P como um marcador promissor de um fenótipo importante para a disseminação das células tumorais, podendo ser usado como um fator de prognóstico clínico e um potencial alvo terapêutico no cancro da mama.
 

 

Autores e Afiliações:

Ana Sofia Ribeiro and Joana Paredes 1,2
1 Institute of Molecular Pathology and Immunology of the University of Porto (IPATIMUP), Porto, Portugal
2 Department of Pathology and Oncology, Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

 

Abstract:

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (also known as EMT) is a fundamental mechanism occurring during embryonic development and tissue differentiation, being also crucial for cancer progression. Actually, the EMT program contributes to the dissemination of cancer cells from solid tumors and to the formation of micro-metastasis that subsequently develop into clinically detectable metastases. Besides being a process that is defined by the progressive loss of epithelial cell characteristics and the acquisition of mesenchymal features, EMT has also been implicated in therapy resistance, immune escape, and maintenance of cancer stem cell properties, such as self-renewal capacity. However, the majority of the studies usually neglect the progressive alterations occurring during intermediate EMT states, which imply a range of phenotypic cellular heterogeneity that can potentially generate more metastable and plastic tumor cells. In fact, few studies have tried to identify these transitory states, partly due to the current lack of a detailed understanding of EMT, as well as of reliable readouts for its progression. Herein, a brief review of evidences is presented, showing that P-cadherin expression, which has been already identified as a breast cancer stem cell marker and invasive promoter, is probably able to identify an intermediate EMT state associated with a metastable phenotype. This hypothesis is based on our own work, as well as on the results described by others, which suggest the use of P-cadherin as a promising EMT marker, clearly functioning as an important clinical prognostic factor and putative therapeutic target in breast carcinogenesis.

 

Revista: Frontiers in Oncology

 

Link: http://journal.frontiersin.org/journal/10.3389/fonc.2014.00371/abstract