Endocrine Journal
Online ISSN : 1348-4540
Print ISSN : 0918-8959
ISSN-L : 0918-8959
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Estrogen-Related Cancer Microenvironment of Breast Carcinoma
Yuri YAMAGUCHIShin-ichi HAYASHI
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2009 Volume 56 Issue 1 Pages 1-7

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Abstract

Stromal cells establish the microenvironment based on interaction with tumor cells, which is essential for cancer growth, invasion and metastasis. Fibroblasts are the primary component of stroma, and carcinoma-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) demonstrate tumor-promoting activities compared with normal counterparts. In breast cancers, stromal fibroblasts adjacent to the tumor express aromatase, a key enzyme in the synthesis of estrogen, resulting in in situ estrogen production, and aromatase is a primary target of endocrine therapy. Thus, stromal fibroblasts demonstrate multiple functions in the genesis and progression of breast cancers. In this paper, we discuss the importance of tumor-stromal crosstalk in breast cancers, and describe our system to predict the efficacy of endocrine therapy and to analyze estrogen signals in individual breast cancers.

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© The Japan Endocrine Society
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