Basal-like breast cancers: from pathology to biology and back again

Gusterson, B. and Eaves, C. J. (2018) Basal-like breast cancers: from pathology to biology and back again. Stem Cell Reports, 10(6), pp. 1676-1686. (doi: 10.1016/j.stemcr.2018.04.023) (PMID:29874626) (PMCID:PMC6117459)

Abstract

Human breast cancers referred to as "basal-like" are of interest because they lack effective therapies and their biology is poorly understood. The term basal-like derives from studies demonstrating tumor gene expression profiles that include some transcripts characteristic of the basal cells of the normal adult human mammary gland and others associated with a subset of normal luminal cells. Elucidating the mechanisms responsible for the profiles of basal-like tumors is an active area of investigation. More refined molecular analysis of patients' samples and genetic strategies to produce breast cancers de novo from defined populations of normal mouse mammary cells have served as complementary approaches to identify relevant pathway alterations. However, both also have limitations. Here, we review some of the underlying reasons, including the unifying concept that some normal luminal cells have both luminal and basal features, as well as some emerging new avenues of investigation.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: Support for the preparation of this review was provided by grants to C. Eaves from the Canadian Cancer Research Institute (grant no. 702294), the Cancer Research Society/Canadian Institutes of Health Research (grant no. 22416), and the British Columbia Cancer Foundation.
• Keywords: Basal, basal-like, breast cancer, cytokeratins, mammary, mouse models, myoepithelial, oncogenesis.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Gusterson, Professor Barry
• Authors: Gusterson, B., and Eaves, C. J.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Cancer Sciences
• Journal Name: Stem Cell Reports
• Publisher: Elsevier (Cell Press)
• ISSN: 2213-6711
• ISSN (Online): 2213-6711
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2018 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Stem Cell Reports 10(6): 1676-1686
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License