Iron homeostasis and anemia markers in early breast cancer.
Iron plays a fundamental role in cell life and its concentration in living organisms is precisely regulated. Different molecules for iron storage and transport are used to maintain its intracellular homeostasis which is often altered in cancer cells. Specifically, recent studies have demonstrated that in breast cancer cells, the expression/activity of several iron-related proteins, such as ferritin, hepcidin and ferroportin, is deregulated and that these alterations may have a prognostic impact in patients with breast cancer. Moreover, molecules that regulate iron metabolism could become therapeutic targets. This review focuses on recent findings on iron metabolism particularly in breast cancer and on the development of new biomarkers that may be used in the clinical routine for the diagnosis, prognosis and management of cancer-associated anemia as well as for monitoring personalized treatments.
Laboratoire de biologie spécialisée et d'oncogénétique, Institut régional du Cancer, rue de la croix verte, 34298 Montpellier, France. Electronic address: pierre-jean.lamy@icm.unicancer.fr.
Pierre-Jean
PJ
Lamy
Service d'oncologie médicale, Hôpitaux Universitaires de Genève, Rue Gabrielle-Perret-Gentil 4, CH-1205 Genève, Switzerland. Electronic address: Anna.DurigovaAbdouh@hcuge.ch.
Anna
A
Durigova
Service d'oncologie médicale, Institut régional du Cancer, rue de la croix verte, 34298 Montpellier, France. Electronic address: william.jacot@icm.unicancer.fr.
William
W
Jacot
D018798:Anemia, Iron-Deficiency / Q000097:blood* / Q000378:metabolism; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006706:Homeostasis / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007501:Iron / Q000378:metabolism*
D007501:Iron
Breast cancer; Ferritin; Ferroportin; Hepcidin; Iron; Transferrin