title: The biological and clinical significance of stromal-epithelial interactions in breast cancer.
abstract: There is evidence that an aberrant tumour microenvironment (TME) facilitates cancer development, progression, and responses to treatment. While many of the mechanisms underlying the phenotype and cancer-promoting behaviour of the TME are unknown, epigenetic mechanisms in cancer cells and the TME are thought to play important roles. As a result, cancer profiling strategies for drug and biomarker development require a thorough understanding of both the epithelial tissue compartment and the TME. This review discusses recent advances in our understanding of how cancer epithelial cells interact with their microenvironment and how this knowledge can be exploited clinically.
authors.affiliation: Health Research Institute, Faculty of Education, Science, Technology and Mathematics, University of Canberra, Bruce, ACT, Australia.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: McCuaig
authors.affiliation: Health Research Institute, Faculty of Education, Science, Technology and Mathematics, University of Canberra, Bruce, ACT, Australia.
authors.forename: Fan
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Health Research Institute, Faculty of Education, Science, Technology and Mathematics, University of Canberra, Bruce, ACT, Australia.
authors.forename: Jenny
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dunn
authors.affiliation: Health Research Institute, Faculty of Education, Science, Technology and Mathematics, University of Canberra, Bruce, ACT, Australia. Electronic address: sudha.rao@canberra.edu.au.
authors.forename: Sudha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rao
authors.affiliation: Anatomical Pathology, ACT Pathology and Australian National University Medical School, The Canberra Hospital, Woden, ACT, Australia. Electronic address: Jane.dahlstrom@act.gov.au.
authors.forename: Jane E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Dahlstrom
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*; D018450:Disease Progression; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000473:pathology*; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D017154:Stromal Cells / Q000473:pathology*; D059016:Tumor Microenvironment
keywords: Breast cancer; DNA methylation; cancer associated fibroblasts; cancer stem cells; epi-drugs; epigenetics; histone; tumour microenvironment