Author｜Penny Pang
Layout Designer｜Cecilia Qin
Breast Cancer
IGFBP2 protein/breast cells/adipocytes
According to the latest data from the World Health Organization, breast cancer has surpassed lung cancer to become the world's leading tumor. This long-latent and deeply hidden "female killer" has been gradually gaining attention. Various methods for treating different types of breast cancer have emerged in recent years. This article will explain the latest research findings in the field of breast cancer – healthy human breast and normal tissue fat cells secrete IGFBP2, which can effectively prevent the spread of breast cancer cells.
Introduction
Breast cancer (BC) is a disease characterized by the uncontrolled growth of abnormal breast cells, leading to the formation of tumors. Breast cancer cells originate in the milk ducts and/or lobules within the breast. The earliest form (in situ) does not pose a life-threatening risk. However, as the growth becomes uncontrolled, cancer cells spread to nearby breast tissues (invasive), ultimately forming tumors with the appearance of lumps or thickening and causing life-threatening [1]. According to pathological classification, breast cancer is typically categorized as non-invasive carcinoma, early-stage invasive carcinoma, or invasive carcinoma, etc. As the global incidence of breast cancer continues to rise, the development of metastatic disease remains a major cause of death. For breast cancer patients, the progression from non-invasive ductal carcinoma in situ (ductal carcinoma in situ DCIS) to invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) leads to a significantly worse prognosis and is a precursor to metastatic disease.
Latest Research
The tissue composition of the human breast is unique, healthy breast stroma has sparse extracellular matrix (ECM) and a significant number of fat cells capable of secreting insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 2 (IGFBP2). In contrast, breasts of breast cancer patients exhibit high fibrosis (increased ECM deposition) and a reduction in the size and quantity of fat cells near the tumor. Changes in breast stroma are crucial factors in the progression of breast cancer, leading research teams to stain slices of healthy breast tissue with IGFBP2 to assess the physiological relevance of this discovery. Unexpectedly, the stain displayed a strong positive IGFBP2 signal in fat cells (as shown in Figure 1).
To further explore the clinical significance of these, researchers stained slices of healthy breast tissue, DCIS, and IDC patient samples and found a significant decrease in the number of IGFBP2-positive cells in breast cancer patients compared to the healthy state. Moreover, compared to DCIS and healthy samples, the expression of IGFBP2 in fat cells was significantly reduced in IDC samples, with a further decrease in fat cells at the tumor boundary compared to the pre-invasive cancer stage (Figure 2).
The study found that co-culturing cancer cells with fat cells that secrete IGFBP2 significantly reduced cancer cell invasion into the fibrous collagen I matrix (Figure 3). Adding fat cells to the co-culture system also significantly reduced cancer cell multiplication, suggesting that apart from IGFBP2, fat-secreted factors play an additional role in cancer suppression. Overall, these findings reveal the role of healthy breast fat cells in restraining cancer invasion. However, further research on the question of how IGFBP2 exerts its anti-invasive function is needed.
Conclusion
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