Sorry to throw another monkey-wrench into the pot for those looking for simple answers but I repost my list of breast cancer lines reminding everyone to look carefully at what breast cancer line studies are done on (not to say what happens in breast cancer lines in petri dishes or injected into mice really reflects what happens in real live people anyway!).
This study by Dr. Siddiqui was done on MDA 231 cells which come from a breast cancer which was NOT her2neu positive. AS has become abundantly clear to many participants on this website's forum and their loved ones, her2 neu breast cancers have entirely different genes and pathways activated and turned off than her2neu negative breast cancers, causing them to have very different behaviors and prognoses.
I reprint my post and then the abstract of Dr. Siddiqui's article:
THE POST:
Previous comments have been made on the need to be discriminating when reading articles on breast cancer studies performed in vitro(in petri dishes or test tubes) or in vivo (in rats or mice usually) utilizing breast cancer cell lines. One thread recently posted on this site had to do with whether flaxseed was good or bad for her2+ breast cancer and listed a study performed by someone in Nutritional science on a breast cancer cell line implanted in mice that turned out to be both estrogen negative AND her2 negative!
I found a nice list of breast cancer cell lines which specify whether or not they are her2+. It still does not tell which are ER+, but it will help one spot right away whether the study was done on her2+ or her2- breast cancer cells and thus help those of you with her2 positive breast cancer have an idea whether the study has any likelihood of providing information useful to your cases:
The naturally HER-2/neu-overexpressing cell lines: BT-474, SK-BR3, MDA-MB-361, and MDA-MB-453
the HER-2/neu-non-overexpressing cell lines: BT-20, MDA-MB-435, MCF-7, MDA-MB-231, ZR-75–1, and T-47D
Cell lines MCF-7/HER-2, MDA-MB-231/HER-2, ZR-75–1/HER-2 and T-47D/HER-2 were previously created by transfection with a retroviral expression vector containing a full-length human HER-2/neu complementary DNA (cDNA), resulting in stable HER-2/neu overexpression
The last group of cell lists which are listed have "her2" appended to their names-- meaning they were naturally her2negative, but they did a little genetic engineering and transfected them with her2.
It is absolutely unclear whether such transformed cell lines really have much to do with tumors that developed naturally and demonstrate her2neu amplification.
So when looking to see if some drug or vitamin or supplement has an effect on YOUR TYPE OF BREAST CANCER be sure the cell lines listed are
BT-474, SK-BR3, MDA-MB-361, or MDA-MB-453 (or MCF-7/HER-2, MDA-MB-231/HER-2, ZR-75–1/HER-2 and T-47D/HER-2 --but retain your skepticism if these latter cell lines were used)
NEEDLESS to say, what happens in the test tube, petri dish or in a rat fatpad injected with cells from another species may not have much to do with what happens in real life in humans
But hopefully this will help in interpreting which of these studies MIGHT
have something to offer and which have been performed in a set of cells so different than yours that the results are unlikely to be applicable to you
Hope this helps!
Lani
THE ABSTRACT:
1: Mini Rev Med Chem. 2004 Oct;4(8):859-71.
Related Articles, Links
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Omega 3-fatty acids: health benefits and cellular mechanisms of action.
Siddiqui RA, Shaikh SR, Sech LA, Yount HR, Stillwell W, Zaloga GP.
Methodist Research Institute, Indianapolis, Indiana 46202, USA.
rsiddiqu@clarian.org
Epidemiological evidence has established that ingestion of long-chain polyunsaturated omega-3 fatty acids (omega-3 PUFAs), abundant in fish oils, have profound effects on many human disorders and diseases, including cardiovascular disease and cancer. Here we briefly review the dietary recommendations and the food sources that are naturally enriched by these fatty acids. There are also a number of products including eggs, bread, and cereals available to supplement omega-3 fatty acid dietary intake. Some of these supplements are proposed to aid different pathological conditions. While the beneficial effects of omega-3 fatty acids can no longer be doubted, their molecular mechanism of action remains elusive. Without question, the action of omega-3 fatty acids is complex and involves a number of integrated signaling pathways. This review focuses on one of the possible cellular mechanisms by which the omega-3 PUFAs, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), may function. Studies with cancer cells suggest that DHA induces cell cycle arrest and apoptosis by activating protein phosphatases, leading to dephosphorylation of retinoblastoma protein (pRB). Protein phosphatases are also involved with the protein Bcl2, which regulates the release of cytochrome c from mitochondria, and eventually, activation of the apoptotic enzyme caspase 3.
NOW THE GOOD NEWS--THERE HAVE BEEN GREAT ARTICLES ON COX2 AND HER2 DONE ON HER2NEU POSITIVE CELLS LINES, LOTS OF ARTICLES by Javier Menendez on her2neu breast cancer and oleic acid, gamma linoleic acid, XENICAL etc ,and LOTS OF ARTICLES ON HER2 POSITIVE CELL LINES POP UP ALL THE TIME DESPITE THE FACT THAT THEY REPRESENT ONLY 20-25% OF BREAST CANCERS! So researchers are not ignoring us commensurate with our minority status. There has been much more research done and there is a much higher level of understanding of her2neu breast cancer than triple negative(her2 and ER and PR negative) breast cancer, the other minority population. Let's keep encouraging those researchers through interest expressed on this website.