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REPORT DATE
November 2004
REPORT TYPE
PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES). McGill University Montreal, Canada H3A2T5 Metastases to bone, l ur:g, and other organs are common and catastrophic consequences of breast cancer progression. There is therefore an urgent need to improve current therapies I that address cancer grm.,th and spread.
PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT NUMBER
SPONSORING / MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 10. SPONSOR/MONITOR'S ACRONYM(S)UParathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP, also referred to as parathyroid hormone-like protein [PTHLP]) is a secreted factor expressed in almost all normal fetal and adult tissues, acting as an autocrine, paracrine, or intracrine factor in a wide range of developmental and physiological processes. Although PTHrP's dysregulated expression has traditionally been associated with oncogenic pathologies as the major causative agent of malignancy-associated hypercalcemia, recent evidence revealed a driving role in skeletal metastasis progression. Here, we demonstrate that PTHrP is also closely involved in breast cancer initiation, growth and metastasis to bone and lung through mechanisms separate from its bone turnover action, and we suggest that PTHrP as facilitator of oncogenes could serve as a novel target for therapeutic intervention.
SUBJECT TERMS
INTRODUCTIONParathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP) is a secreted factor expressed in almost all normal fetal and adult tissues. It is involved in a wide range of developmental and physiological processes, including serum calcium regulation. PTHrP is also associated with the progression of skeletal metastases, and its dysregulated expression in advanced cancers causes malignancyassociated hypercalcemia. Although PTHrP is frequently expressed by breast tumors and other solid cancers, its involvement in tumor initiation and metastasis in vivo is not clear.
BODYPTHrP is expressed in normal epithelial cells but its expression increases in breast cancer and becomes associated with multiple metastatic lesions and reduced survival. It is, however, still unknown whether PTHrP overexpression is simply a con...