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- Posted Sunday March 4, 2012
TGen-Mayo Clinic study role testosterone may play in Triple Negative Breast Cancer
Study presented at 65th annual meeting of the Society of
Surgical Oncology
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - March 22, 2012 - Could blocking a testosterone
receptor lead to a new way to treat an aggressive form of breast
cancer? That's a question researchers at Mayo Clinic in
Arizona and the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen)
are exploring.
Preliminary results of a Mayo Clinic-TGen collaborative study shows
the testosterone receptor may be a potential target to attack in
treating Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC).
Lead researcher Dr. Barbara Pockaj, M.D., a surgical oncologist at
Mayo Clinic in Arizona will present the results of the study March
23 at the 65th annual conference of the Society of Surgical
Oncology in Orlando, Fla.
TNBC is highly aggressive and affects approximately 10 to 20
percent of breast cancer patients. The disease is
characterized by larger, faster-growing tumors than other types of
breast cancer and has limited treatment options.
Unlike other forms of breast cancer in which treatments are
tailored to specifically target hormone receptors such as estrogen
and progesterone or the HER-2 proteins that promote the growth and
spread of cancer cells, triple negative cancer cells do not possess
markers for estrogen, progesterone or HER-2, Dr. Pockaj says. There
are no targeted therapies other than chemotherapy to TNBC, she
says.
Researchers at Mayo Clinic and TGen say that could change if the
androgen (testosterone) receptor shows potential as a therapeutic
target.
"The goal of the study was to define what may be fueling TNBC,
thereby identifying new potential options for effective targeted
treatment," says co-lead researcher Dr. Heather Cunliffe, Ph.D.,
Associate Professor and head of TGen's breast and ovarian cancer
research unit. "The team discovered that the androgen receptor is
expressed in a significant proportion of these tumors, and
moreover, the androgen-receptive positive tumors shared a unique
clinical behavior."
Researchers found 22 percent of the patients with TNBC had the
androgen receptor in their tumors.
"These cancers appeared in women who were older and there was
a higher likelihood of the cancer spreading to the lymph
nodes. Even though the women with androgen-receptor positive
TNBC had more aggressive cancer to start, their survival was no
different than patients with TNBC whose cancers did not possess the
androgen receptor," Dr. Pockaj says. "Importantly, while all normal
breast tissue had androgen receptors, it was lost in the majority
of patients with TNBC. Our data shows us that there is a definitive
group of patients who may be sensitive to treatment directed
against the androgen receptor."
While further research with a larger number of patients is needed
to define clinical implications of androgen receptor positive TNBC,
Dr. Cunliffe says this study provides important insights.
An important next step of the research will be to determine how the
androgen receptor functions in TNBC.
"We will look at all the genes within the cancer cells from each
patient using genomic approaches. This way we can find ways to
manipulate the cancer cell which hopefully will translate into new
treatment strategies for the women with TNBC," Dr. Pockaj
says.
The study was supported by a seed grant from the joint Mayo
Clinic-TGen collaborative research program.
About Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic is a non-profit worldwide leader in medical care,
research, and education for people from all walks of life. For more
information, visit www.mayoclinic.org/about/ and
www.mayoclinic.org/news.
Press Contact:
Julie Janovsky-Mason
Mayo Clinic
480-301-4222
[email protected]
