Biomaterial Database

Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition: what is the impact on breast cancer stem cells and drug resistance. 2014

Paraskevi Mallini, and Thomas Lennard, and John Kirby, and Annette Meeson

Institute of Genetic Medicine, Newcastle University, International Centre for Life, Central Parkway, Newcastle-upon-Tyne NE1 3BZ, UK. Electronic address: p.mallini@ncl.ac.uk.

There is increasing interest in cancer stem cells (CSCs) and their role in cancer progression. Recently, CSCs have been identified in brain, skin, and intestinal tumors and it has been suggested that these CSCs are responsible for tumor growth and metastasis. In breast cancer fatality is often due to the development of metastatic disease (MBC). Almost 30% of early breast cancer patients eventually develop MBC and in 90% of these multi-drug resistance (MDR) occurs. This could be attributed to the presence of breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs). Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a process known to contribute to metastasis in cancer and it is mainly characterized by loss of E-cadherin expression. The TGF-β signaling pathway has an established role in promoting EMT by down-regulating E-cadherin via a number of transcription factors, such as Twist, Snail and Slug. EMT has also been reported to produce cells with stem cell-like properties. Definition of the exact molecular mechanisms that are involved in the generation of stem cells through EMT could lead to the identification of new potential therapeutic targets and enable the development of more efficient strategies for particular patient groups. In this review we discuss what is known about the relationship between EMT, BCSCs and MDR.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D001943	Breast Neoplasms	Tumors or cancer of the human BREAST.	Breast Cancer,Breast Tumors,Cancer of Breast,Breast Carcinoma,Cancer of the Breast,Human Mammary Carcinoma,Malignant Neoplasm of Breast,Malignant Tumor of Breast,Mammary Cancer,Mammary Carcinoma, Human,Mammary Neoplasm, Human,Mammary Neoplasms, Human,Neoplasms, Breast,Tumors, Breast,Breast Carcinomas,Breast Malignant Neoplasm,Breast Malignant Neoplasms,Breast Malignant Tumor,Breast Malignant Tumors,Breast Neoplasm,Breast Tumor,Cancer, Breast,Cancer, Mammary,Cancers, Mammary,Carcinoma, Breast,Carcinoma, Human Mammary,Carcinomas, Breast,Carcinomas, Human Mammary,Human Mammary Carcinomas,Human Mammary Neoplasm,Human Mammary Neoplasms,Mammary Cancers,Mammary Carcinomas, Human,Neoplasm, Breast,Neoplasm, Human Mammary,Neoplasms, Human Mammary,Tumor, Breast
D004351	Drug Resistance	Diminished or failed response of an organism, disease or tissue to the intended effectiveness of a chemical or drug. It should be differentiated from DRUG TOLERANCE which is the progressive diminution of the susceptibility of a human or animal to the effects of a drug, as a result of continued administration.	Resistance, Drug
D005260	Female		Females
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D014411	Neoplastic Stem Cells	Highly proliferative, self-renewing, and colony-forming stem cells which give rise to NEOPLASMS.	Cancer Stem Cells,Colony-Forming Units, Neoplastic,Stem Cells, Neoplastic,Tumor Stem Cells,Neoplastic Colony-Forming Units,Tumor Initiating Cells,Cancer Stem Cell,Cell, Cancer Stem,Cell, Neoplastic Stem,Cell, Tumor Initiating,Cell, Tumor Stem,Cells, Cancer Stem,Cells, Neoplastic Stem,Cells, Tumor Initiating,Cells, Tumor Stem,Colony Forming Units, Neoplastic,Colony-Forming Unit, Neoplastic,Initiating Cell, Tumor,Initiating Cells, Tumor,Neoplastic Colony Forming Units,Neoplastic Colony-Forming Unit,Neoplastic Stem Cell,Stem Cell, Cancer,Stem Cell, Neoplastic,Stem Cell, Tumor,Stem Cells, Cancer,Stem Cells, Tumor,Tumor Initiating Cell,Tumor Stem Cell,Unit, Neoplastic Colony-Forming,Units, Neoplastic Colony-Forming
D045744	Cell Line, Tumor	A cell line derived from cultured tumor cells.	Tumor Cell Line,Cell Lines, Tumor,Line, Tumor Cell,Lines, Tumor Cell,Tumor Cell Lines
D058750	Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition	Phenotypic changes of EPITHELIAL CELLS to MESENCHYME type, which increase cell mobility critical in many developmental processes such as NEURAL TUBE development. NEOPLASM METASTASIS and DISEASE PROGRESSION may also induce this transition.	Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transformation,Epithelial Mesenchymal Transformation,Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition,Transformation, Epithelial-Mesenchymal,Transition, Epithelial-Mesenchymal