HER2 Support Group Forums - View Single Post - Any connection between pregnancy and Her2 positive BC?

02-27-2006, 05:52 PM

Helen, your post made me think of this article I found this weekend:

Post-Pregnancy Breast Changes Tied to Cancer Metastasis

By David Douglas

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Feb 24 - Post-lactation involution of breast tissue appears to be associated with changes that promote breast tumor cell metastasis, according to findings from in vitro and murine studies.

In light of this, senior investigator Dr. Pepper Schedin told Reuters Health that "it would be beneficial to increase vigilance of breast cancer screening in recently pregnant women."

"Secondly," she noted, "depending on results of future research, it may be possible to target recently pregnant women with prevention strategies designed to block the tumor promotion that is associated with gland involution."

In the February issue of the American Journal of Pathology, Dr. Schedin of the University of Colorado Cancer Center, Aurora and colleagues observe that the mammary gland microenvironment during post-lactational involution shares similarities with inflammation, a state that can promote tumorigenesis.

Furthermore, in contrast to findings from extracellular matrices extracted from the mammary glands of nulliparous rats, the team found that those from animals involved in weaning-induced involution failed to support ductal development in normal human mammary cells and promoted invasiveness in mammary tumor cells.

When tumor cells mixed with nulliparous or involution matrix were then injected into the mammary pads of nude mice, metastases to lung, liver and kidney were increased in the involution group. This correlated, say the investigators, with a doubling of tumor vascular endothelial growth factor expression and an increase in angiogenesis.

These findings, they conclude, "provide a plausible mechanism to explain the high rate of metastases that occur with pregnancy-associated breast cancer."

In an accompanying editorial, Drs. Carlos Sonnenschein and Ana M. Soto of Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston commend the investigators' novel approach and assert that further studies are warranted "to extend and solidify the value of these important original data."

Am J Pathol 2006;168:602-620.

02-27-2006, 05:52 PM	#4
Lani Guest Posts: n/a	not necessarily her2: postpartum breast chnges and metastatic potential Helen, your post made me think of this article I found this weekend: Post-Pregnancy Breast Changes Tied to Cancer Metastasis By David Douglas NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Feb 24 - Post-lactation involution of breast tissue appears to be associated with changes that promote breast tumor cell metastasis, according to findings from in vitro and murine studies. In light of this, senior investigator Dr. Pepper Schedin told Reuters Health that "it would be beneficial to increase vigilance of breast cancer screening in recently pregnant women." "Secondly," she noted, "depending on results of future research, it may be possible to target recently pregnant women with prevention strategies designed to block the tumor promotion that is associated with gland involution." In the February issue of the American Journal of Pathology, Dr. Schedin of the University of Colorado Cancer Center, Aurora and colleagues observe that the mammary gland microenvironment during post-lactational involution shares similarities with inflammation, a state that can promote tumorigenesis. Furthermore, in contrast to findings from extracellular matrices extracted from the mammary glands of nulliparous rats, the team found that those from animals involved in weaning-induced involution failed to support ductal development in normal human mammary cells and promoted invasiveness in mammary tumor cells. When tumor cells mixed with nulliparous or involution matrix were then injected into the mammary pads of nude mice, metastases to lung, liver and kidney were increased in the involution group. This correlated, say the investigators, with a doubling of tumor vascular endothelial growth factor expression and an increase in angiogenesis. These findings, they conclude, "provide a plausible mechanism to explain the high rate of metastases that occur with pregnancy-associated breast cancer." In an accompanying editorial, Drs. Carlos Sonnenschein and Ana M. Soto of Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston commend the investigators' novel approach and assert that further studies are warranted "to extend and solidify the value of these important original data." Am J Pathol 2006;168:602-620.