Microenvironment of the involuting mammary gland mediates mammary cancer progression.
Breast cancer diagnosed after a completed pregnancy has higher metastatic potential and therefore a much poorer prognosis. We hypothesize that following pregnancy the process of mammary gland involution, which returns the gland to its pre-pregnant state, co-opts some of the programs of wound healing. The pro-inflammatory milieu that results, while physiologically normal, promotes tumor progression. In this review, the similarities between mammary gland involution after cessation of milk-production and pathological tissue remodeling are discussed in light of emerging data demonstrating a role for pathological tissue remodeling in cancer.
Schedin
Pepper
P
AMC Cancer Research Center, University of Colorado Health Science Center, Aurora, CO, USA. Pepper.schedin@uchsc.edu
O'Brien
Jenean
J
Rudolph
Michael
M
Stein
Torsten
T
Borges
Virginia
V
D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007774:Lactation; D042361:Mammary Glands, Human / Q000473:pathology*