The Role of Chronic Inflammation in the Development of Breast Cancer

Tumor Necrosis Factor-α (TNFα) Stimulate Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Stem Cells to Promote Intratumoral Invasion and Neovasculogenesis in the Liver of a Xenograft Model

TNBC represents the most aggressive breast cancer subtype. Although cancer stem cells (CSCs) are a minor fraction of all cancer cells, they are highly cancerous when compared to their non-stem counterparts, playing a major role in tumor recurrence and metastasis. Angiogenic stimuli and the tumor environment response are vital factors in cancer metastasis. However, the causes and effects of tumor angiogenesis are still poorly understood. In this study, we demonstrate TNFα effects on primary triple-negative breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs). TNFα stimulation increased the mesenchymality of BCSCs in an intermediate epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) state, enhanced proliferation, self-renewal, and invasive capacity. TNFα-treatment elicited BCSC signaling on endothelial networks in vitro and increased the network forming capacity of the endothelial cells. Our findings further demonstrate that TNFα stimulation in BCSCs has the ability to instigate distinct cellular communication within the tumor microenvironment, inducing intra-tumoral stromal invasion. Further, TNFα-treatment in BCSCs induced a pre-metastatic niche through breast-liver organ crosstalk by inducing vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) enriched neovasculogenesis in the liver of tumor-bearing mice. Overall, TNFα is an important angiogenic target to be considered in breast cancer progression to attenuate any angiogenic response in the tumor environment that could lead to secondary organ metastasis.

Benign or premalignant? Idiopathic granulomatous mastitis later diagnosed as ductal carcinoma breast cancer: Case report and review of literature

Idiopathic granulomatous mastitis (IGM) is a rare benign infectious disease of the breast, commonly presenting with a unilateral breast mass. Since GM's clinical presentation and imaging can be very similar to breast cancer, diagnosing GM can be challenging. So far, various reports have demonstrated the probable correlation and co-occurrence of granulomatous mastitis and breast cancer. This report presents a 38-year-old female with invasive ductal carcinoma, previously diagnosed as IGM.

Identification of Immune Cell Components in Breast Tissues by a Multiparametric Flow Cytometry Approach

Simple Summary

The tumor microenvironment in breast cancer plays important roles in tumor development and treatment response, giving important information critical for disease management. Today, an analysis of the tumor microenvironment is included in routine histopathologic reporting for practical clinical application. This manuscript aimed to deepen the study of the tumor microenvironment, analyzing the immune cells in breast tumoral and benign pathologies. Indeed, using a deep immunophenotyping approach by flow cytometry, we have studied the immune cells at the level of breast tissues, identifying different immunophenotyping that could be useful in the diagnosis and follow up of breast pathologies. As possible targets are continually being discovered in the tumor microenvironment, a future approach to breast cancer diagnosis and therapy could likely combine cancer cell elimination and tumor microenvironment modulation.

Abstract

Immune cell components are able to infiltrate tumor tissues, and different reports described the presence of infiltrating immune cells (TILs) in several types of solid tumors, including breast cancer. The primary immune cell component cells are reported as a lymphocyte population mainly comprising the cytotoxic (CD8+) T cells, with varying proportions of helper (CD4+) T cells and CD19+ B cells, and rarely NK cells. In clinical practice, an expert pathologist commonly detects TILs areas in hematoxylin and eosin (H&E)-stained histological slides via light microscopy. Moreover, other more in-depth approaches could be used to better define the immunological component associated with tumor tissues. Using a multiparametric flow cytometry approach, we have studied the immune cells obtained from breast tumor tissues compared to benign breast pathologies. A detailed evaluation of immune cell components was performed on 15 and 14 biopsies obtained from breast cancer and fibroadenoma subjects, respectively. The percentage of tumor-infiltrating T lymphocytes was significantly higher in breast cancer patients compared to patients with fibroadenoma. Infiltrating helper T lymphocytes were increased in the case of malignant breast lesions, while cytotoxic T lymphocytes disclosed an opposite trend. In addition, our data suggest that the synergistic effect of the presence/activation of NK cells and NKT cells, in line with the data in the literature, determines the dampening of the immune response. Moreover, the lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio was calculated and was completely altered in patients with breast cancer. Our approach could be a potent prognostic factor to be used in diagnostic/therapeutic purposes for the improvement of breast cancer patients’ management.

The potential effects and mechanisms of breast inflammatory lesions on the occurrence and development of breast cancer

Breast cancer as the most common cancer in women has become the leading cause of cancer death for women. Although many inflammatory factors increase the risk of breast cancer, there are very few studies on the mechanisms by which inflammation affects the initiation and progression of breast cancer. Here, we profiled and compared the transcriptome of normal tissues, inflammatory breast tissues, benign breast tumors, and malignant breast tumors. To find key regulatory factors, a protein interaction network between characteristic modules in inflammatory lesions and ER-negative (ER⁻) breast cancer was constructed and inflammation-cancer interface genes were identified. We found that the transcriptional profile of inflammatory breast tissues was similar with ER⁻ malignant tumors, featured with low ER expression levels and similar immune signaling pathway activation. Through comprehensive protein network analysis, we identified the interface genes and chemokine signaling pathway that have the potential to promote inflammatory cancer transformation. These interface genes could be used as a risk factor to provide a certain basis for the clinical early detection and treatment of breast cancer. This is the first study to explore the association between breast inflammatory lesions and breast cancer at the transcriptome level. Our inflammation data and research results provide a basis for future inflammation-cancer transformation analysis.

Baduanjin’s impact on quality of life and sleep quality in breast cancer survivors receiving aromatase inhibitor therapy: a randomized controlled trial

Purpose

The aim of the current study is to investigate the impact of Baduanjin, a traditional Chinese exercise, on quality of life and sleep quality in breast cancer survivors receiving aromatase inhibitor (AI) therapy.

Methods

A total of 72 breast cancer survivors who had received AI treatment for more3 than 6 months were enrolled in the current study using non-probability consecutive sampling procedure. Participants were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to a 12-week Baduanjin exercise program or to a wait-list control group. The Baduanjin exercise group performed two 90-min supervised sessions per week. The primary outcomes were changes in quality of life measured by the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality-of-Life Questionnaire Core 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30) and in sleep quality evaluated using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI).

Results

A total of 68 participants completed the trial (Baduanjin exercise group: n = 33; control group: n = 35). Baseline values for quality of life did not differ between groups. Both global quality of life and physical functioning scores increased significantly by 12.39 (P < 0.001) and 8.48 (P < 0.001) in the Baduanjin exercise group compared with those in the control. Overall PSQI score also decreased by 4.85 (P < 0.001) in the Baduanjin exercise group, whereas it increased by 0.34 in the control group.

Conclusion

Baduanjin exercise training led to improvement in the quality of life and sleep quality of breast cancer patients undergoing AI therapy.

The AGEs/RAGE Transduction Signaling Prompts IL-8/CXCR1/2-Mediated Interaction between Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts (CAFs) and Breast Cancer Cells

Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and the cognate receptor, named RAGE, are involved in metabolic disorders characterized by hyperglycemia, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and obesity. Moreover, the AGEs/RAGE transduction pathway prompts a dysfunctional interaction between breast cancer cells and tumor stroma toward the acquisition of malignant features. However, the action of the AGEs/RAGE axis in the main players of the tumor microenvironment, named breast cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), remains to be fully explored. In the present study, by chemokine array, we first assessed that interleukin-8 (IL-8) is the most up-regulated pro-inflammatory chemokine upon AGEs/RAGE activation in primary CAFs, obtained from breast tumors. Thereafter, we ascertained that the AGEs/RAGE signaling promotes a network cascade in CAFs, leading to the c-Fos-dependent regulation of IL-8. Next, using a conditioned medium from AGEs-exposed CAFs, we determined that IL-8/CXCR1/2 paracrine activation induces the acquisition of migratory and invasive features in MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. Altogether, our data provide new insights on the involvement of IL-8 in the AGEs/RAGE transduction pathway among the intricate connections linking breast cancer cells to the surrounding stroma. Hence, our findings may pave the way for further investigations to define the role of IL-8 as useful target for the better management of breast cancer patients exhibiting metabolic disorders.

Zingiberene exerts chemopreventive activity against 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene-induced breast cancer in Sprague-Dawley rats

Breast cancer is the primary cause of cancer-related death in females, wherein increased mortality of breast cancer patients is recorded worldwide. Zingiberene is a monocyclic sesquiterpene from the ginger plant and has many pharmacological benefits. In this exploration, we assessed the anticancer actions of Zingiberene against the 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA)-stimulated mammary carcinogenesis in rats and MDA-MB-231 cells. Breast cancer was induced in the Female Sprague-Dawley rats through the 25 mg/kg of DMBA in 0.5 ml of corn oil and then treated with 20 and 40 mg/kg of Zingiberene, respectively. The body weight of animals and tumor volume was measured. Hematological parameters, transaminases, lipid profile, lipid peroxidation, and antioxidants status were scrutinized using standard techniques. The estrogen receptor-α and inflammatory markers were inspected by using respective assay kits. Histological damage scores were determined. In vitro experiments were conducted to scrutinize Zingiberene's effect on cell viability and apoptotic cell death in MDA-MB-231 cells. Zingiberene substantially modulated the DMBA-stimulated physiological and hematological changes and decreased the transaminases, and lipid peroxidation in the DMBA-stimulated animals. Zingiberene also elevated the antioxidant level and suppressed the inflammatory markers. Histological study revealed the protective effects of Zingiberene. The viability of MDA-MB-231 cells was noticeably diminished by the Zingiberene, thus inducing apoptotic cell death. Overall, our findings reliably proved the anticancer potential of Zingiberene against the DMBA-stimulated mammary tumorigenesis, and it could be a promising chemotherapeutic agent.

Development of an Inflammation-Related lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA Network Based on Competing Endogenous RNA in Breast Cancer at Single-Cell Resolution

The role and mechanism of inflammation in breast cancer is unclear. This study aims to probe the relationship between inflammation and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and to stablish an inflammation-related competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network in breast cancer. Inflammation-related lncRNAs and target genes were screened based on the data from four single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) studies and miRNAs were bioinformatically predicted according to ceRNA hypothesis. A series of in silico analyses were performed to construct an inflammation-related ceRNA network in breast cancer. Consequently, a total of seven inflammation-related lncRNAs were selected, after which LRRC75A-AS1 was identified as the most potential lncRNA in view of its expression and prognostic predictive value in breast cancer. Finally, an inflammation-related ceRNA network in breast cancer at the single cell level was established based on lncRNA LRRC75A-AS1, miR-3127-5p, miR-2114-3p, RPL36 and RPL27A mRNAs. Collectively, the lncRNA LRRC75A-AS1 and the LRRC75A-AS1-based on ceRNA network may exert crucial roles in modulating inflammation response during the initiation and progression of breast cancer.

Anti-Inflammatory Effect of 4,5-Dicaffeoylquinic Acid on RAW264.7 Cells and a Rat Model of Inflammation

Anti-inflammatory agents that are safer and more effective than the currently used non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are urgently needed. The dicaffeoylquinic acid (diCQA) isomer 4,5-diCQA exhibits antioxidant activity and various other health-promoting benefits; however, its anti-inflammatory properties require further investigation. This study was conducted to evaluate the anti-inflammatory properties of 4,5-diCQA in vitro and in vivo using RAW264.7 cells and a carrageenan-induced inflammation model, respectively. In RAW264.7 cells, 4,5-diCQA pretreatment significantly inhibited lipopolysaccharide-induced expression of nitric oxide, prostaglandin E2, nitric oxide synthase, cyclooxygenase-2, tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-1β, and interleukin-6, without inducing cytotoxicity. The inhibitory effects of 4,5-diCQA were mediated by the suppression of nuclear factor-κB nuclear translocation and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) phosphorylation. Oral administration of 4,5-diCQA at doses of 5, 10, and 20 mg/kg of the body weight suppressed carrageenan-induced edema and the expression of nitric oxide synthase, cyclooxygenase-2, and tumor necrosis factor-α in a dose-dependent manner. Collectively, our results suggest that 4,5-diCQA exerts anti-inflammatory effects by suppressing activation of the nuclear factor-κB and MAPK pathways in vitro and reducing carrageenan-induced edema in vivo. Therefore, 4,5-diCQA shows potential as a natural alternative to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.