Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Cell of Origin of Breast Cancer: An Updated Hypothesis Merging Epidemiological Data with Molecular Biology

Olsson, Håkan LU orcid (2013) In Journal of Carcinogenesis & Mutagenesis 4(1). p.1-5
Abstract
Two different hypotheses about cell of origin of breast cancer have been proposed. One theory states that breast cancer originates from an epithelial stem cell and subsequent genetic changes determine the phenotype, while another hypothesis postulates that breast cancer could originate from different cells, both stem cells and progenitor cells. Therefore, the phenotype in the latter situation is partly dependent on the differentiation of the epithelial cell of origin. Based initially on epidemiological data new research for instance gene expression arrays and gene transfection models supports the theory postulating that tumour biology of a breast cancer at least partly reflects the biology of the tissue/epithelial cell of origin at the... (More)
Two different hypotheses about cell of origin of breast cancer have been proposed. One theory states that breast cancer originates from an epithelial stem cell and subsequent genetic changes determine the phenotype, while another hypothesis postulates that breast cancer could originate from different cells, both stem cells and progenitor cells. Therefore, the phenotype in the latter situation is partly dependent on the differentiation of the epithelial cell of origin. Based initially on epidemiological data new research for instance gene expression arrays and gene transfection models supports the theory postulating that tumour biology of a breast cancer at least partly reflects the biology of the tissue/epithelial cell of origin at the time of initiation. It may be that the different theories actually not oppose each other and that tumours may develop from different precursor cells such as sometimes from a stem cell and sometimes from differently developed progenitor cells. The type of the mutations acquired, and/or the differentiation potential of the cancer cells, and the cell of origin are likely to decide whether a tumor follows a Cancer Stem Cell (CSC) model.

However, there are still unanswered questions that need to be addressed by further research to especially understand the hierarchy of differentiation of normal and tumour tissue. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Journal of Carcinogenesis & Mutagenesis
volume
4
issue
1
pages
1 - 5
publisher
OMICS Publishing Group
ISSN
2157-2518
DOI
10.4172/2157-2518.1000139
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
c2655da9-fc4e-43ce-948f-15d8082059d7
date added to LUP
2019-01-07 16:19:28
date last changed
2019-03-08 03:12:25
@article{c2655da9-fc4e-43ce-948f-15d8082059d7,
  abstract     = {{Two different hypotheses about cell of origin of breast cancer have been proposed. One theory states that breast cancer originates from an epithelial stem cell and subsequent genetic changes determine the phenotype, while another hypothesis postulates that breast cancer could originate from different cells, both stem cells and progenitor cells. Therefore, the phenotype in the latter situation is partly dependent on the differentiation of the epithelial cell of origin. Based initially on epidemiological data new research for instance gene expression arrays and gene transfection models supports the theory postulating that tumour biology of a breast cancer at least partly reflects the biology of the tissue/epithelial cell of origin at the time of initiation. It may be that the different theories actually not oppose each other and that tumours may develop from different precursor cells such as sometimes from a stem cell and sometimes from differently developed progenitor cells. The type of the mutations acquired, and/or the differentiation potential of the cancer cells, and the cell of origin are likely to decide whether a tumor follows a Cancer Stem Cell (CSC) model.<br/><br/>However, there are still unanswered questions that need to be addressed by further research to especially understand the hierarchy of differentiation of normal and tumour tissue.}},
  author       = {{Olsson, Håkan}},
  issn         = {{2157-2518}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{1--5}},
  publisher    = {{OMICS Publishing Group}},
  series       = {{Journal of Carcinogenesis & Mutagenesis}},
  title        = {{Cell of Origin of Breast Cancer: An Updated Hypothesis Merging Epidemiological Data with Molecular Biology}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.4172/2157-2518.1000139}},
  doi          = {{10.4172/2157-2518.1000139}},
  volume       = {{4}},
  year         = {{2013}},
}