Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0006142 (breast cancer)
160,383 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Interleukin-6 is associated with poor prognosis in breast cancer. Expression of GP96, a glucose regulated stress protein, is related to drug resistance in tumor cells. Interleukin-6 has previously been shown to induce GP96 expression in a murine myeloblastic cell line. BT474 or MDA-MB231 cells were incubated with recombinant Interleukin-6 (100 to 750 U/ml) for 24 hr. To establish a time course for GP96 induction, MDA-MB231 cells were incubated with 250 U/ml recombinant interleukin-6 for 0-48 hr. Following incubation, cells were washed twice in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) and cell lysates were prepared by adding 100 microliters of PBS and freezing at -20 degrees C. GP96 was assessed by immunoblotting. Breast tumor tissue and histologically normal breast tissue were obtained within 1 hr of resection and flash frozen in liquid nitrogen. Tissue was homogenized in ice-cold PBS and cell debris was pelleted by centrifugation at 300g at 4 degrees C for 5 min. Supernatants were collected and assayed for interleukin-6 by ELISA, and GP96 by immunoblotting. Both interleukin-6 (P < 0.001) and GP96 are elevated in breast tumor tissue compared to histologically normal tissue. Interleukin-6 (> or = 250 U/ml for > or = 12 hr) induces GP96 in the metastatic breast cancer cell line, MDA-MB231, but has no effect on GP96 levels in the primary cell line, BT474. Elevated interleukin-6 in breast tumors may induce GP96 expression in tumor cells conferring a survival advantage by rendering them resistant to cytotoxic therapy and other forms of stress.
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PMID:Interleukin-6 upregulates GP96 expression in breast cancer. 920 61

DT-diaphorase (EC 1.6.99.2) is a flavoprotein that catalyses two-electron reduction of quinones, quinone imines, and nitrogen oxides. It is a Phase II detoxifying enzyme that can detoxify chemically reactive metabolites, and may be important in an early cellular defense against tumorigenesis. DT-diaphorase is also an activating enzyme for bioreductive antitumor agents like mitomycin C (MMC) and EO9. DT-diaphorase is induced in many tissues by a wide variety of compounds including dithiolethiones and isothiocyanates. Dithiolethiones are chemoprotective agents against a variety of chemical carcinogens in animal models, and the dithiolethione analogue, oltipraz, is currently in Phase I and Phase II clinical chemoprevention trials. Similarly, the isothiocyanate derivative, sulforaphane, blocks the formation of carcinogen-induced mammary tumors in rats. The low toxicity of these inducers of DT-diaphorase makes them suitable for use as chemopreventive agents in high-risk individuals. Cells with elevated DT-diaphorase levels are generally more sensitive to bioreductive antitumor agents. Thus, we suggested that the antitumor efficacy of bioreductive agents can be enhanced by selective induction of DT-diaphorase in tumor cells compared with normal cells. We showed that 1,2-dithiole-3-thione (D3T) can increase the level of DT-diaphorase activity and the cytotoxic activity of bioreductive agents in mouse lymphoma cells without increasing these activities in normal mouse marrow cells. D3T also increased DT-diaphorase activity in 24 of 33 human tumor cell lines representing nine tissue types with no obvious relationships between the tumor type, or the base level of DT-diaphorase activity, and the ability to increase enzyme activity. A series of dithiolethione analogues and dietary components were also shown to be good inducers of DT-diaphorase in human tumor cells. D3T increased DT-diaphorase activity in normal human bone marrow and kidney cells but the increases were small in these cells. Combination treatment with D3T and EO9 increased cell kill in HL-60 human leukemia cells compared with EO9 alone, but had no effect on EO9 toxicity in normal human kidney cells. Similarly, D3T increased tumor cell kill by EO9 in H661 human lung cancer cells and by MMC in T47D human breast cancer cells. Thus, inducers of DT-diaphorase may play an important role in cancer chemoprevention programs and may also be useful in enhancing the antitumor efficacy of bioreductive agents.
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PMID:Induction of DT-diaphorase in cancer chemoprevention and chemotherapy. 940 43

Mitoxantrone [1,4-dihydroxy-5,8-bis[[2-[(2-hydroxyethyl)amino]ethyl] amino]-9,10-anthracenedione, MXH2] is a novel anticancer agent frequently employed in the chemotherapy of leukemia and breast cancer. Earlier studies have shown that metabolic oxidation to reactive 1,4-quinone or/and 5,8-diiminequinone intermediates may be an important mechanism of activation of this agent, pertinent to its cytotoxic action in vivo. Here we report that in the presence of nitrite ions (NO2-), MXH2 undergoes oxidation by the mammalian enzyme lactoperoxidase (LPO) and hydrogen peroxide and that the process proceeds at a rate that is proportional to NO2- concentration. In contrast, when MXH2 was exposed to LPO/H2O2 in the absence of nitrite, oxidation of the drug was either completely absent or markedly inhibited. These experiments were carried out using concentrated solutions of MXH2 (approximately 100 microM) at near neutral pH where dimers of the drug predominate. We propose that oxidation of MXH2 is mediated by an LPO/ H2O2 metabolite of NO2-, most likely the .NO2 radical. Because in mitoxantrone therapy the drug is administered intravenously, it is directly exposed to nitrogen oxides and other free radicals produced by blood components. It is therefore possible that the ability of mitoxantrone to react with the nitrogen dioxide radical may be relevant to the biological action of the drug in vivo.
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PMID:Lactoperoxidase-catalyzed oxidation of the anticancer agent mitoxantrone by nitrogen dioxide (NO2.) radicals. 943 21

Some new phenothiazines have been synthesized on the basis of previous studies. The anticancer activity of "half-mustard type" phenothiazines was investigated on sixty different cancer cell lines in vitro. The percentage of growth (PG), 50% inhibition of growth (GI50), the tumor growth inhibition (TGI) and the concentration required for 50% lethality of cells (IC50) were examined and calculated in the presence of various (from 10(-4) to 10(-8) M) concentrations of phenothiazine alkylurea derivatives. The following cell lines were involved in the study: 6 leukemia, 9 non-small-cell lung cancer, 7 colon cancer, 6 central nervous system cancer, 8 melanoma, 6 ovarian cancer, 8 renal cancer, 2 prostate and 8 breast cancer cell lines. The antileukemic activity of four chloroethyl-substituted phenothiazine-alkylureas was shown by considerable growth inhibition, in the 10(-5) M range, of the six different leukemia cell lines. The 50% inhibition of growth was nearly the same for the four compounds on all cell lines. Tumor growth inhibition (TGI) and IC50 value to cells varied from -4.0 to -4.66. The two derivatives with the butylene bridge were more effective than propylene linked compounds against the CCRP-CEM, HL60 (TB), K-562 and MOLT-4 cell lines. However, the anti-leukemic activity of the derivatives was nearly the same for RPMT 8226 and SR cell lines. The substituent at the 2- position of phenothiazine ring and the length of the linker between the side chain nitrogen and the phenothiazine ring system are apparently important for antileukemic activity. Four of the 9 non-small-cell lung cancer cell lines were sensitive, while the other 5 cell lines were not. The compounds had a slight growth inhibitory effect on colon cell carcinoma and melanoma cells in which case the butylene linker seemed to be more effective than the propylene linker. At the same time, all of the compounds were weak or mostly inactive on cancer cells from the central nervous system. One ovarian cancer line of the 6, the IGROVI was sensitive to butylurea phenothiazines, however, the other five were not sensitive at all. The difference in the sensitivity of various renal cell carcinomas was significant: 5 lines were not sensitive, three of them (786-0, RXF-393 and TK-10) were sensitive to only butylene-substituted phenothiazine-ureas, propylene substitution resulted in ineffective compounds. The compounds were not able to inhibit the 2 prostate and 4 breast cancer cell lines, even at 10(-4) M. It was interesting that propylene-linked ureas were more effective than butylene-linked derivatives on MCF-7, but butylene-linked derivatives were more effective than propylene-linked compounds on MDA MB-231 and MDA-N. In addition, MDA MB 435 was more sensitive to the trifluoromethyl derivatives than the compounds without this substituent. Since the phthalimido-alkyl phenothiazines were not active at the first level of prescreen, these compounds were omitted from this study. The drug sensitivity of some cancer cell lines was not uniform for the different groups, therefore we postulate that the resistance can be related to some kind of (existing) drug-efflux mechanism. Apparently, the tumor specificity of phenothiazine alkylureas is more related to the leukemia specificity of alkylureas than to any CNS or lung specificity of phenothiazines.
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PMID:The primary in vitro anticancer activity of "half-mustard type" phenothiazines in NCI's revised anticancer screening paradigm. 956

The crystallization of the ligand-binding domain (LBD) of the estrogen receptor (ER) with 17beta-estradiol and raloxifene [A. M. Brzozowski et al., Nature (Lond.), 389: 753-758, 1997] now provides a molecular basis for the biological activity of complexes as either agonists or antagonists. It is well established that the critical structural feature of antiestrogens is a correctly positioned alkylaminoethoxy side chain. The X-ray crystallography clearly shows that the alkylaminoethoxy side chain of raloxifene causes a specific and inappropriate molecular perturbation of the LBD and that the nitrogen in the side chain must hydrogen bond with aspartate 351 in the LBD of ER. We previously identified and characterized a naturally occurring mutation in the ER from a tamoxifen-stimulated transplantable human breast tumor line. The mutation is at AA351 of LBD, where the aspartate is changed to tyrosine (Asp351Tyr). In this report, we compared and contrasted the pharmacology of raloxifene to block or induce E2-stimulated increase in TGF-alpha mRNA in stable transfectants of ER-negative human breast cancer cells with the cDNAs from wild-type, mutant-amino acid (AA) 400 ER and mutant-AA 351 ER. Our results show that the mutation at AA 351 that replaces aspartate by tyrosine specifically changes the pharmacology of raloxifene from an antiestrogen to an estrogen. By contrast, a mutation at AA 400 does not, and the antiestrogenic properties of raloxifene are retained. These data and the fact that the nitrogen in the side chain must specifically interact with aspartate 351 makes this the key to the antiestrogenic activity of raloxifene.
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PMID:The key to the antiestrogenic mechanism of raloxifene is amino acid 351 (aspartate) in the estrogen receptor. 958 27

In the 2-phenylindole system, the side chain at the nitrogen atom dominates the endocrine profile both in respect to the reduction of estrogenic action and the increase of antiestrogenic potency. In previous papers we reported on 2-phenylindoles with aliphatic side chains and various functional groups [Biberger, C. and von Angerer, E., J. Steroid Biochem. Molec. Biol., 1996, 58, 31-43 and references therein]. In this study, we incorporated one or two phenyl rings into the side chain in order to lower the flexibility of the side chain. The sulfone group which was used as a polar function was linked to various positions of a benzyl or a phenyl group attached to the indole moiety. The relative binding affinities (RBA) ranged from 1.5 to 8.4% of estradiol. Agonist and antagonist activities were estimated in transfection assays using transiently transfected HeLa cells (cotransfected with the HEG0 vector) and stably transfected MCF-7/2a human breast cancer cells. The reporter plasmid contained the ERE from the Vitellogenin 2A gene, a viral tk promotor and the luciferase gene. Many of the new derivatives showed no or only very low estrogenic activity except for the compound 4e which contained two benzyl elements in the side chain. The antiestrogenic potency was very variable when concentrations 100-fold higher than that of estradiol were applied. The compound with the para-substituted benzyl fragment (4b) proved to be a pure antagonist in the transfection assays. It antagonized the effect of estradiol (10 nM) with an IC50 value of 10(-7) M. It also inhibited strongly the growth of estrogen-sensitive human MCF-7 mammary carcinoma cells (IC50, 3 nM). Its activity was comparable to the one of the corresponding aliphatic 2-phenylindole derivative ZK 164.015. The data from the transcription and proliferation assays suggest that a phenyl ring can be incorporated into the side chain of pure antiestrogens without reducing their potency, provided the aromatic ring is para-substituted and a methylene group between the indole nitrogen and the phenyl group can act as hinge.
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PMID:1-Benzyl-2-phenylindole- and 1,2-diphenylindole-based antiestrogens. Estimation of agonist and antagonist activities in transfection assays. 961 29

The aim of this study was the identification of the essential structural elements in the 12-formyl-5,6-dihydroindolo[2, 1-a]isoquinoline system required for the inhibition of tubulin polymerization which is understood to be the predominant mode of action of this class of cytostatics. Since 2-phenylindole forms the main fragment of this tetracycle, it was used as the basic structure and modified with respect to the number and positions of the oxygen functions in the aromatic rings. Further modifications related to the nitrogen, which was both replaced by oxygen and sulfur and alkylated. All derivatives were tested for cytostatic activity in human breast cancer cells (MDA-MB 231, MCF-7) and inhibition of tubulin polymerization. The spectrum of activity ranged from inactive to IC50 values of 35 nM (cell growth inhibition) and 1.5 microM (tubulin polymerization), respectively, for the most active derivative 3e (3-formyl-6-methoxy-2-(4-methoxyphenyl)indole). Although the correlation between antiproliferative activity and inhibition of tubulin polymerization was not very pronounced, all of the potent cytostatic agents in this study disrupted microtubule assembly completely at the standard concentration of 40 microM. By fluorescence microscopy it was demonstrated that the derivative 3e degrades the cytoskeleton in a similar fashion as colchicine does leading to the condensation of the microtubules around the nucleus after treatment. The comparison between hydroxy and methoxy derivatives revealed a striking difference between the 2-phenylindole derivatives and the indoloisoquinolines. In the 2-phenylindole series, the methoxy compounds were much more effective than the free phenols, whereas in the tetracyclic system the effect of the hydroxy derivatives exceeded that of the methylated compounds by 1 order of magnitude. Preliminary studies on the binding mode showed that both the 2-phenylindole derivatives and the indoloisoquinolines bind to the colchicine site on tubulin.
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PMID:Methoxy-substituted 3-formyl-2-phenylindoles inhibit tubulin polymerization. 983 14

The urinary concentrations of 16 estrogens and 11 polyamines were quantitatively determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and gas chromatography with nitrogen-phosphorus detection. Samples from patients with stages I-IV of breast cancer (35 cases, aged 27-65 years) as well as from age-matched normal female subjects (25 cases, aged 22-61 years) were tested. Also, the ratios of precursor to product metabolite including 16alpha-OH E1 to 2-OH E1, which are linked to estrogen and polyamine biosynthetic pathways, were determined to explore enzyme involvement in breast cancer and to evaluate the potential usefulness of these ratios and concentrations as disease staging markers. It was confirmed that major estrogens and 16a-OH E1 were positively associated with breast cancer and catechol estrogens including 2-OH E1 were inversely associated with breast cancer. The ratios of N1-acSp/Spd and 16alpha-OH E1/2-OH E1 might be a useful dual marker for staging of breast cancer. From the variation of the relative ratios of polyamines, it is suggested that alteration in polyamine oxidase (PAO) activity may play an important role in the development of breast cancer.
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PMID:Estrogens and polyamines in breast cancer: their profiles and values in disease staging. 992 59

BREAST CANCER: HIGH PREVALENCE AND RISING INCIDENCE: Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer among women in Europe, North and South America and Australasia; approximately 1 in 10 women in Western countries will develop breast cancer during their lifetime. It is estimated that the disease will affect five million women worldwide over the next decade, and the incidence of breast cancer is increasing on average by about 1% per year in industrialized countries and at a greater rate in developing countries. COMPLEX ETIOLOGY: Although the specific etiology of breast cancer remains unknown, a number of factors are recognized which increase a woman's risk of developing the disease. Genetic predisposition, or family history of breast cancer, is known to be responsible for 5% of all cases. However, the variation in incidence throughout populations, and changes relating to population migration and adoption of altered lifestyles, all point to the critical importance of nongenetic determinants. Such factors include early menarche, late menopause, late age at birth of first child or nulliparity, a history of benign breast disease, and diet. There is also evidence that hormones play a major role in the etiology of breast cancer, with the risk of developing malignancies related to the cumulative exposure of the breast to estrogen and progesterone, which stimulate the growth of tumor cells. TREATMENT FOR EARLY BREAST CANCER: SURGERY -/+ ADJUVANT THERAPY: At the time of diagnosis, approximately 50% of patients will be diagnosed with early breast cancer. This proportion is increasing as a consequence of the introduction of early detection programs. Surgery remains the primary treatment for early breast cancer, and the frequency of radical mastectomy has been replaced by breast conserving surgery. After surgery, other therapeutic modalities such as radiation, chemotherapy or endocrine therapy may be given in the adjuvant setting. Surgical cure rates vary for patients with early breast cancer; the US figure is approximately 40%, and there are no definitive means to predict those who will be cured and those who will have recurrent disease. As a result, following primary surgical treatment, adjuvant therapy is usually recommended to destroy any remaining cancer cells at the primary site, to control micrometastases and to prolong disease-free survival, with the ultimate aim of providing an overall survival benefit. Upon disease recurrence in the remaining 60% of patients, endocrine therapy and chemotherapy represent the two general classes of treatment. One of the principle decisions to be taken in advanced breast cancer is which therapy to select in order to maximize patient benefit. The choice is largely dependent upon prognostic factors and whether the patient is pre- or postmenopausal. ENDOCRINE THERAPY OR CHEMOTHERAPY IN ADVANCED BREAST CANCER: Unlike chemotherapy, endocrine therapy is not cytotoxic and is therefore better tolerated by the patient. A recent study comparing therapy for prognostically different groups showed that patients benefiting most from the use of sequential endocrine agents are those regarded as low risk. The preferred sequence of treatment has been suggested to be tamoxifen followed by selective aromatase inhibitor and then a progestin. ENDOCRINES AND ENZYMES OFFER NEW TREATMENTS FOR ADVANCED BREAST CANCER: ESTROGEN-DRIVEN BREAST CANCER: Since 1896, when Sir George Beatson demonstrated that ovariectomy induced regression of mammary tumors in women, the aim of endocrine breast cancer therapy has been to selectively deprive the body of estrogen. Ovariectomy accomplished this by removing the gland that is the predominant source of estrogens in premenopausal women. Since the avoidance of such surgery is preferable, emphasis is devoted to the pharmacological inhibitors of estrogen production. ENDOCRINE PATHWAY REVEALS "ACHILLES' HEEL": Like other steroid hormones, the two circulating estrogens-estrone and estradiol-are produced from cholesterol. Inhibiting the enzymes that are involved at earlier steps in the branching pathway of steroidogenesis could have an undesirable impact on the production of other physiologically important hormones such as aldosterone and cortisol. Since aromatase catalyzes the last step in estrogen production, it makes an ideal target for the development of selective and potent inhibitors (Fig. 1). STRUCTURE OF AROMATASE REVEALS SECRETS OF SELECTIVE INHIBITION: Aromatase is a cytochrome P450 enzyme, with both an iron-containing and a steroid-binding site. The substrate, androstenedione, sits in the enzyme's steroid-binding site, that site which otherwise catalyzes the formation of estrogen. From this structural relationship, there are, therefore, two reasonable ways to inhibit aromatase: * by occupying the steroid-binding site of the enzyme with a compound such as formestane (Lentaron&reg;), or * by binding the iron with nitrogen-containing compounds such as aminoglutethimide (Orimeten&reg;), the oldest aromatase inhibitor. AROMATASE INHIBITORS: STEROIDAL AND NON-STEROIDAL: Formestane (Lentaron&reg;) is the only commercially available steroidal compound which inhibits aromatase and must be administered parenterally. Other new aromatase inhibitors such as fadrozole (Afema&reg;) and letrozole (Femara&reg;) are orally active nitrogen-containing compounds that bind the heme iron of aromatase. AMINOGLUTETHIMIDE VERSUS LETROZOLE: OLD VERSUS NEW: Although aminoglutethimide has long been used to treat advanced breast cancer, its aromatase inhibition is not selective. Consequently, aminoglutethimide also binds to and thereby inhibits several other cytochrome P450 enzymes in the steroidogenesis pathway. An ideal aromatase inhibitor would fit the catalytic site of aromatase optimally and would thus interact only with aromatase. The affinity of letrozole (Femara&reg;) for the heme group of aromatase makes it a selective and potent inhibitor (Fig. 2). In fact, studies show that Femara&reg; has little effect on the other adrenal steroids, and is the most selective aromatase inhibitor available today.
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PMID:Molecular Action and Clinical Relevance of Aromatase Inhibitors. 1038 95

Weight gain is a reported problem associated with adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer and often generates psychosocial stress in women [1]. It also may affect prognosis and survival. Changes in body composition and weight during chemotherapy, particularly adjuvant treatment of breast carcinoma, have been previously reported [1-3]. Multiple reasons for this weight gain have been suggested though few theories have been scientifically validated [4]. The aim of this study was to investigate body composition and its relationship to weight change associated with the CMF-based breast cancer chemotherapy protocols. Total body nitrogen (TBN), body fat, total body water (TBW), and anthropometric measurements were conducted on 25 female out-patients (median age 47, range 26-70 years) receiving adjuvant CMF-based chemotherapy for breast cancer. Total body nitrogen was measured using the In Vivo Neutron Capture Analysis (IVNCA) technique (on day 1 of cycles 2-6) and TBP was calculated by multiplying TBN by 6.25 [5]. Nitrogen Index (NI) was calculated by expressing TBN as a percentage of normal. There was a significant increase in mean body weight during chemotherapy of 2.35 kg (p < 0.0001). Serial measurements showed no significant change in mean TBN, NI, or percentage body fat. Break down of body weight showed a significant increase in mean TBW of 0.79 kg (p = 0.003) and mean fat mass of 1.49 kg (p = 0.008). We conclude that weight gain observed during adjuvant chemotherapy for breast carcinoma is primarily due to an increase in fat and TBW.
Breast Cancer Res Treat 1999 Oct
PMID:Changes in body composition during breast cancer chemotherapy with the CMF-regimen. 1061 5


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