Breast cancer articles within Nature

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  • Letter |

    In a mouse model of mammary carcinoma, loss of deleted in colorectal cancer (DCC) promotes metastasis formation, and in cell cultures derived from p53-deficient mouse mammary tumours DCC expression controls netrin-1-dependent cell survival, supporting the function of DCC as a context-dependent tumour suppressor that limits survival of disseminated tumour cells.

    • Paul Krimpenfort
    • , Ji-Ying Song
    •  & Anton Berns

  • News & Views |

    On binding to its target hormone, the oestrogen-receptor protein modulates the expression of many genes. Changes in the receptor's interaction with DNA have now been linked to clinical outcome in patients with breast cancer. See Letter p.389

    • Geneviève Deblois
    •  & Vincent Giguère

  • News & Views |

    A major hurdle to successful cancer treatment is tumour resistance to chemotherapy. White blood cells called macrophages often infiltrate tumours in large numbers, and now appear to promote tumour chemoresistance.

    • Michele De Palma
    •  & Claire E. Lewis

  • Letter |

    Although it is known that tumours are genetically heterogeneous it has so far been difficult to dissect this heterogeneity at a single cell level. This paper combines whole-genome amplification and next-generation sequencing of flow-sorted nuclei from breast tumours to investigate their population structure and evolution. In contrast to gradual models of tumour progression, the results indicate that tumours grow by punctuated clonal expansions with few persistent intermediates.

    • Nicholas Navin
    • , Jude Kendall
    •  & Michael Wigler

  • Article |

    A crystal structure of the tandem PHD and bromodomain regions of the transcription and chromatin regulator TRIM24 reveals combinatorial recognition of dual marks on the histone H3 tail. TRIM24 is involved in activation of oestrogen-dependent genes and is aberrantly expressed in breast cancer.

    • Wen-Wei Tsai
    • , Zhanxin Wang
    •  & Michelle Craig Barton

  • Technology Feature |

    Developing techniques are helping researchers to build the protein interaction networks that underlie all cell functions.

    • Laura Bonetta

  • Letter |

    Progestins, used in hormone replacement therapy and contraceptives, have been suggested to promote the development of breast cancer. These authors show that the ability of progestins to induce mammary tumours in mouse models is mediated by RANKL (receptor activator of NF-KB ligand). Inhibition of RANKL could reduce tumorigenesis in hormone-induced and other mouse mammary gland tumour models, suggesting a new therapeutic approach.

    • Eva Gonzalez-Suarez
    • , Allison P. Jacob
    •  & William C. Dougall

  • Letter |

    Progestins, used in contraceptives and hormone replacement therapy, have been linked to breast cancer. These authors provide a mechanistic basis for this association. They show in a mouse model that synthetic progestins can promote mammary tumour formation by inducing RANKL (receptor activator of NF-KB ligand), which acts on mammary epithelial cells through the RANKL receptor RANK.

    • Daniel Schramek
    • , Andreas Leibbrandt
    •  & Josef M. Penninger

  • Letter |

    Reproductive history influences breast cancer risk but the cellular mechanisms are unclear. Here it is shown that ovarian hormones regulate the size of the mammary stem cell pool in mice. The size of this pool increases when progesterone levels increase during the reproductive cycle. Progesterone probably regulates stem cell numbers through a paracrine mechanism involving induction of RANKL and Wnt in luminal cells.

    • Purna A. Joshi
    • , Hartland W. Jackson
    •  & Rama Khokha

  • News & Views |

    The steroid hormones oestrogen and progesterone have a role in sickness and in health. In breast tissue, both roles probably work through a single mechanism: controlling the number and activity of mammary stem cells.

    • John P. Lydon

  • Letter |

    Large intervening non-coding RNAs (lincRNAs) are pervasively transcribed in the genome. Here it is shown that lincRNAs in the HOX genetic loci are dysregulated during breast cancer progression in human cells, and that expression levels of the lincRNA called HOTAIR can predict whether a tumour will metastasize. Moreover, enforced expression of HOTAIR can lead to altered patterns of binding of the PRC2 protein to the genome.

    • Rajnish A. Gupta
    • , Nilay Shah
    •  & Howard Y. Chang

  • Article |

    Massively parallel DNA sequencing allows entire genomes to be screened for genetic changes associated with tumour progression. Here, the genomes of four DNA samples from a 44-year-old African-American patient with basal-like breast cancer were analysed. The samples came from peripheral blood, the primary tumour, a brain metastasis and a xenograft derived from the primary tumour. The findings indicate that cells with a distinct subset of the primary tumour mutation might be selected during metastasis and xenografting.

    • Li Ding
    • , Matthew J. Ellis
    •  & Elaine R. Mardis

  • Letter |

    The ovarian hormones oestrogen and progesterone increase breast cancer risk but the cellular mechanisms are unclear. Here it is shown that the size of the mammary stem cell pool in mice is regulated by steroid hormone signalling, although these cells lack the receptors for oestrogen and progesterone. The augmented pool could lead to clonal expansion of a mutated cell, possibly accounting for the increased incidence of breast cancer associated with pregnancy.

    • Marie-Liesse Asselin-Labat
    • , François Vaillant
    •  & Jane E. Visvader

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