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Breast cancer

RARRES3—suppressing metastases to the lung in breast cancer

Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology volume 11, page 378 (2014)Cite this article

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About 90% of deaths due to breast cancer are caused by distant metastases. Oestrogen receptor (ER)-negative breast cancer tumours account for 20–30% of breast cancer cases, which primarily metastasize to the lungs. A group led by Roger Gomis has recently demonstrated that loss of function of RARRES3, a retinoic acid responsive gene, in ER-negative breast cancer cells stimulates their invasive capacity and promotes metastasis to the lung.

Gomis explains, “the transformation of a tumour cell into a metastatic cell is not just about acquiring capacities, but equally important is the loss of certain genes, such as RARRES3.” The researchers combined studies in mouse models and cell lines, and ultimately validated their findings in 580 samples from primary breast tumours, demonstrating that RARRES3 is suppressed in ER-negative breast tumours. Furthermore, RARRES3 loss is associated with a lack of differentiation capacity, which facilitates the initiation of metastases. Therefore, RARRES3 loss could provide a marker to identify patients with greater susceptibility to lung metastasis.

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References

  1. Morales, M. et al. RARRES3 suppresses breast cancer lung metastasis by regulating adhesion and differentiation. EMBO Mol. Med. 10.15252/emmm.201303675

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Authors
  1. Alessia Errico
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Errico, A. RARRES3—suppressing metastases to the lung in breast cancer. Nat Rev Clin Oncol 11, 378 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrclinonc.2014.103

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