The Pluripotent

Karen Finney of UC Davis reports:

New research from UC Davis Cancer Center shows that a protein called Muc4 may be the essential ingredient that allows breast cancer to spread to other organs and resist therapeutic treatment. The study, which appears in the April 1 issue of Cancer Research, is one of the first to characterize the role of Muc4 in the disease.

Kermit Carraway, senior author of the study, knew that Muc4 was not always expressed in primary breast cancer tumors, yet it could be present in lymph node metastases. He suspected that it may have a specialized function in the process of metastasis.

“Breast cancer deaths are caused by metastasis, not by the primary tumor,” explained Carraway, an associate professor of biochemistry and molecular medicine. “It’s at that point that the disease also becomes difficult to treat. We think that Muc4 may be packing a one-two punch by promoting the release of breast cancer cells from the primary tumor and then inhibiting their death.”

Muc4 is member of a group of proteins called mucins, which are commonly found in fluids such as tears and mucus. They have a known role in protecting epithelial cells, from which breast cancer cells are derived. When separated from their surrounding cell matrix, epithelial cells tend to die. Metastasizing breast cancer cells, however, can survive this detachment.

“Because breast cancer cells can lose their adhesive properties and still thrive, we suspected that Muc4 may be somehow allowing them to leave their cellular framework, travel to secondary sites and withstand treatment,” Carraway explained.

To test his suspicions, Carraway and his team conducted two experiments. They started by comparing breast cancer cells that express Muc4 with those for which Muc4 production is blocked. The researchers then exposed both types of cells to chemotherapy drugs. The Muc4-producing cells survived.

They repeated the experiment with breast cancer cells and epithelial cells that do not naturally express Muc4 but were engineered to do so. Both sets of cells avoided cell death and effectively resisted chemotherapy.

“Our results lead us to believe that Muc4 is somehow disrupting normal links between epithelial cells,” said UC Davis graduate student Heather Workman, lead author of the study. “We now need to refine our understanding of this disruption process in order to find ways to interfere with it. There currently are no drugs that target Muc4, and this research will help change that.”

Carraway is now preparing to test metastasizing breast cancer tumor cells for the overexpression of Muc4.

“If we find that Muc4 is all over metastasizing breast cancer cells, it will confirm that we are on the right track,” he said.

While Carraway’s current focus is on breast cancer, his findings could have relevance to other cancers that show aggressive properties. For example, Muc4 is also expressed in pancreatic, lung and ovarian tumor cells.

“Muc4 is likely a central cellular mechanism for metastasis of many cancers, and we will be continuing this important work to prove that,” he said.

[Via UC Davis Health]

Popularity: 10% [?]

Summary: Randomized study confirms effects include improved mood and reduced fatigue

Women undertaking a ten week program of 75 minute Restorative Yoga (RY) classes gained positive differences in aspects of mental health such as depression, positive emotions, and spirituality (feeling calm/peaceful) compared to the control group. The study, published today in a special issue of Psycho-Oncology focusing on physical activity, shows the women had a 50% reduction in depression and a 12% increase in feelings of peace and meaning after the yoga sessions.

RY is a gentle type of yoga which is similar to other types of yoga classes, moving the spine in all directions but in a more passive and gentle way. Props such as cushions, bolsters, and blankets provide complete physical support for total relaxation with minimal physical effort, and so people in differing levels of health can practice yoga more easily.

44 women took part in the study, with 22 undertaking the yoga classes and 22 in the waitlist control group. All of the women had breast cancer; 34% were actively undergoing cancer treatment while the majority had already completed treatment. All participants completed a questionnaire at the beginning and end of the ten week program, asking them to evaluate their quality of life through various measures. The results clearly showed that the women who had been given the RY classes experienced a wide range of benefits compared to the control group (who were later all invited to attend identical RY classes).

“Evidence from systematic reviews of randomized trials is quite strong that mind-body therapies improve mood, quality of life, and treatment-related symptoms in people with cancer. Yoga is one mind-body therapy that is widely available and involves relatively reasonable costs,” said lead researcher Suzanne Danhauer, Ph.D., based at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. “Given the high levels of stress and distress that many women with breast cancer experience, the opportunity to experience feeling more peaceful and calm in the midst of breast cancer is a significant benefit.”

The study found that women who started with higher negative emotions and lower emotional well-being derived greater benefit from the gentle yoga intervention compared to the control group. Women in the gentle yoga group also demonstrated a significant within-group improvement in fatigue, while no such change was noted for the control group.

“This was a pilot study to identify the worthiness and feasibility of conducting a larger randomized control trial on restorative yoga and women with breast cancer,” added Danhauer. “Our results are very promising and will allow us to embark on a much larger scale study.”

[Via Wiley]

Popularity: 13% [?]

A team of researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) and the Moores UCSD Cancer Center have developed a rapid, automated image screening process to distinguish breast cancer cells from normal cells. The technique, which is based on the density of cells seen on a microscope slide, may eventually lead to better ways for surgeons to determine if they have removed all of the cancer during breast-conserving cancer surgery and cut down on the number of needed second operations.

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Despite recommendations and being at an increased risk of breast cancer, most young women who were treated with chest radiation for a childhood cancer do not undergo appropriate mammography screening, according to a study in the January 28 issue of JAMA.

Women treated with chest radiation for a pediatric malignancy face a significantly increased risk of breast cancer at a young age. “The risk of breast cancer begins to increase as early as 8 years after radiation and the median [midpoint] age of breast cancer diagnosis ranges from 32 to 35 years,” the authors write. By age 45 years, it is estimated that from 12 percent to 20 percent of women treated with moderate- to high-dose chest radiation will be diagnosed with breast cancer.

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