Unlocking the Therapeutic Potential of Integrin-Linked Kinase Inhibitors in Bioengineered 3D Breast Tumor Stroma Models
Rafik ST., Upadhyay A., MacRobert AJ., Cheema U.
Laboratory Study, published in FASEB J (2026) — summary generated from the PubMed abstract.
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
This page is generated from the PubMed record. The Thai description is an automated summary of bibliographic fields and the abstract, not a full translation, and is not medical advice.
- Study type
- Laboratory Study
- Journal
- FASEB J (2026)
- Reported sample size
- —
- Source database
- Europe PMC
- PMID
- 41537745
- PMCID
- PMC12805930
- DOI
- 10.1096/fj.202503695r
- Citations
- 1
Abstract (original English)
The tumor microenvironment (TME) plays a pivotal role in breast cancer progression and metastasis, and the efficacy of targeted therapies is influenced by the heterogeneous nature of the TME. Interactions between breast cancer cells and their surrounding stromal cells modulate proliferation, invasion, and survival pathways, often via integrin-mediated mechanotransduction and growth factor signaling. Integrin-linked kinase (ILK) is a serine/threonine protein kinase that has been widely established as a critical driver of breast cancer progression, metastasis, and therapeutic resistance. Its expression is frequently upregulated in breast cancer tumors and correlates with poor prognosis. Given that ILK activity is highly dependent on cell-matrix interactions that are only recapitulated in 3D culture, we investigated the effect of an ILK inhibitor in 3D bioengineered compartmentalized breast tumoroid models to better mimic in vivo conditions. Two tumor cell masses (MDA-MB-231 or MCF-7) were cultured within a primary breast tissue stromal compartment representative of breast tissue or a metastatic representative of lung tissue. In highly invasive and highly hypoxic MDA-MB-231 3D tumoroid models, ILKI treatment was 2.2 fold more effective in 3D models representative of breast tissue (p-value < 0.0001) compared to those with the metastatic lung compartment (p-value = 0.03). However, I
What this study does not prove
- • This study does not prove SVF is an approved treatment or a replacement for standard care.
- • This is preclinical work; animal or laboratory results cannot be applied to humans.
Evidence level
Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.
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