What clinicians need to know about antioestrogen resistance in breast cancer therapy.
Tamoxifen is the drug most used for early breast cancer treatment in oestrogen receptor (ER) positive patients. Unfortunately, despite high ER tumour levels in a tumour, resistance to endocrine therapy, either de novo or acquired after prolonged treatment, can occur. In this review, we will try to summarise the postulated mechanisms of hormonal-resistance, namely, the role of co-regulators and the crosstalk between the HER-2, IGF-IR, Cox-2 and ER pathways. Other predictive markers of tamoxifen-resistance/response, such as cyclin E and UPA/PAI-1, are also discussed.
Milano
Amalia
A
Medical Oncology and Translational Research Unit, Jules Bordet Institute, Rue Héger-Bordet, 1, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium.
Dal Lago
Lissandra
L
Sotiriou
Christos
C
Piccart
Martine
M
Cardoso
Fatima
F
D018931:Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism; D019927:Cyclin E / Q000378:metabolism; D019008:Drug Resistance, Neoplasm; D004965:Estrogen Antagonists / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018739:Oncogene Proteins v-erbB / Q000378:metabolism; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000378:metabolism; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen / Q000378:metabolism; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone / Q000378:metabolism; D013002:Somatomedins / Q000378:metabolism; D014568:Urokinase-Type Plasminogen Activator / Q000378:metabolism
D018931:Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D019927:Cyclin E; D004965:Estrogen Antagonists; D018739:Oncogene Proteins v-erbB; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone; D013002:Somatomedins; D014568:Urokinase-Type Plasminogen Activator