Reciprocal interactions between breast tumor and its adipose microenvironment based on a 3D adipose equivalent model

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

• Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
• Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
• Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
• Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
• Emerging · Emerging topic under active research

Abstract (original English)

Breast cancer has become the most common cancer among women in industrialized countries. Obesity is well established as a risk factor, in particular owing to the attendant secretion of the entities called adipokines; there is growing evidence for a role of cells and factors present in the mammary tumor microenvironment such as fibroblasts, preadipocytes, adipocytes and their secretions. To study how the microenvironment influences breast cancer growth, we developed a novel tridimensional adipose model epithelialized with normal human keratinocytes or with breast cancer cell lines. These mimicked a breast tumor in contact with an adipose microenvironment and allowed monitoring of the interactions between the cells. Leptin and adiponectin, two major adipokines, and their respective receptors, ObRt and AdipoR1, were expressed in the model, but not the second adiponectin receptor, AdipoR2. The differentiation of preadipocytes into adipocytes was greater when they were in contact with the breast cancer cell lines. The contact of breast cancer cell lines with the microenvironment completely modified their transcriptional programs by increasing the expression of genes involved in cell proliferation (cyclinD1, MAPK), angiogenesis (MMP9, VEGF) and hormonal pathways (ESR1, IL6). This tridimensional adipose model provides new insights into the interactions between breast cancer cells and

Evidence level

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

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