Connexon Creative - Mammary Cell News 1.15, August 27th, 2009

In this issue: Science News | Current Publications | Industry News | Policy News | Events

TOP STORIES

New Route to Potential Breast Cancer Cure Discovered
UK scientists have discovered a new route to a potential cure for breast cancer, one that focuses on how the cancer manipulates genetic pathways to spread through the body, rather than on how tumors develop in the first place. [Howard Hughes Medical Institute, London]

SPECIAL FEATURE

Mammary Stem Cells: Learn Cutting-Edge, Robust Functional Assays to Evaluate MaSCs
STEMCELL Technologies is offering a 2-day Mammary Stem Cell Training Course that provides hands-on instruction in the dissection, culture, identification and enumeration of mammary stem and progenitor cells.
October 17-18, 2009, Vancouver, Canada
View Curriculum / Register

SCIENCE NEWS

Long-Term Tamoxifen Use Increases the Risk of an Aggressive, Difficult to Treat Type of Second Breast Cancer
While long-term tamoxifen use among breast cancer survivors decreases their risk of developing the most common, less aggressive type of second breast cancer, such use is associated with a more than four-fold increased risk of a more aggressive, difficult-to-treat type of cancer in the breast opposite, or contralateral, to the initial tumor. Video [Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle]

Protein May Identify Deadlier Breast Cancer
The study found that patients whose tumors had elevated levels of GLI1 protein tended to have a more advanced stage of cancer, had an increased number of cancerous lymph nodes and a greater chance of death. [RWTH Aachen's University Hospital, Aachen]

Human Breast Cancer Hit for Six: Key Role for Six1 in Tumor Development and Metastasis
Scientists have provided new insight into breast cancer development using mouse models and analysis of human cells, implicating the protein Six1 as central to this process. [University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora]

CURRENT PUBLICATIONS

LABORATORY RESEARCH

The Estrogen Receptor-Alpha-Induced microRNA Signature Regulates Itself and its Transcriptional Response
Through a microarray approach, scientists identify the subset of microRNAs (miRNAs) modulated by ERalpha, which include upregulation of miRNAs derived from the processing of the paralogous primary transcripts (pri-) mir-17-92 and mir-106a-363. [PNAS]

Interleukin-6 Induces an Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition Phenotype in Human Breast Cancer Cells
First study to show IL-6 as an inducer of an EMT phenotype in breast cancer cells and implicates its potential to promote breast cancer metastasis. [Oncogene]

The Six1 Homeoprotein Induces Human Mammary Carcinoma Cells to Undergo Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition and Metastasis in Mice Through Increasing TGF-Beta Signaling
Findings indicate that Six1, acting through TGF-Beta signaling and EMT, is a powerful and global promoter of cancer metastasis. [J Clin Invest]

BRCA1-Deficient Mammary Tumor Cells are Dependent on EZH2 Expression and Sensitive to Polycomb Repressive Complex 2-Inhibitor 3-Deazaneplanocin A
Ezh2 overexpression is functionally relevant in BRCA1-deficient breast cancer cells. The effectiveness of a small molecule inhibitor indicates that EZH2 is a druggable target. [Breast Cancer Res]

Resident Macrophages Influence Stem Cell Activity in the Mammary Gland
Data reveal a key role for mammary gland macrophages in supporting stem/progenitor cell function and suggest that MaSCs require macrophage-derived factors to be fully functional. Macrophages may therefore constitute part of the mammary stem cell niche. [Breast Cancer Res]

CLINICAL RESEARCH

Adjuvant Hormonal Therapy for Breast Cancer and Risk of Hormone Receptor-Specific Subtypes of Contralateral Breast Cancer
Compared with women not treated with hormonal therapy, users of adjuvant tamoxifen for 5 years had a reduced risk of ER+ contralateral breast cancer [odds ratio, 0.4; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.3-0.7], but a 4.4-fold (95% CI, 1.03-19.0) increased risk of ER- contralateral breast cancer. [Cancer Res]

INDUSTRY NEWS

Aperio Receives Second FDA Clearance for HER2 Image Analysis Application for Breast Cancer
Aperio Technologies, Inc., has received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market the IHC HER2 Breast Tissue Image Analysis application.

POLICY NEWS

Food and Drug Administration Transparency Task Force; Meeting - Reopening of Comment Period, 41711-41712 [E9-19778]

NIH Request for Applications: The Biology of Estrogen Receptor-Negative Breast Cancer in Various Racial and Ethnic Groups (U01)

EVENTS

Next Generation Comprehensive Breast Centers of Excellence
September 29-October 2, 2009
Baltimore, MD, United States

2009 National Cancer Research Institute Conference
October 4-7, 2009
Birmingham, United Kingdom

Global Breast Cancer Conference
October 8-10, 2009
Seoul, South Korea

Gordon Research Conference - Stem Cells and Cancer
September 13-18, 2009
Les Diablerets, Switzerland

AACR - Advances in Breast Cancer Research
October 13-16, 2009
San Diego, CA, United States

32nd Annual CTRC - AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium
December 9-13, 2009
San Antonio, TX

Gordon Research Conference - Mammary Gland Biology
June 6-11, 2010
Lucca (Barga), Italy

The 21st Meeting of the European Association for Cancer Research
June 26-29, 2010
Oslo, Norway

Visit our events page to stay up to date with the latest events in the cell, gene and immunotherapy community.

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