Glucocorticoid receptor antagonism as a novel therapy for triple-negative breast cancer
- PMID: 24016618
- PMCID: PMC3860283
- DOI: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-12-3826
Glucocorticoid receptor antagonism as a novel therapy for triple-negative breast cancer
Abstract
Purpose: Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) accounts for 10% to 20% of newly diagnosed invasive breast cancer. Finding effective targets for chemotherapy-resistant TNBC has proven difficult in part because of TNBC's molecular heterogeneity. We have previously reported that likely because of the antiapoptotic activity of glucocorticoid receptor (GR) in estrogen receptor (ER)-negative breast epithelial and cancer cells, high GR expression/activity in early-stage TNBC significantly correlates with chemotherapy resistance and increased recurrence. We hypothesized that pretreatment with mifepristone, a GR antagonist, would potentiate the efficacy of chemotherapy in GR+ TNBCs by inhibiting the antiapoptotic signaling pathways of GR and increasing the cytotoxic efficiency of chemotherapy.
Experimental design: TNBC cell apoptosis was examined in the context of physiologic glucocorticoid concentrations, chemotherapy, and/or pharmacologic concentrations of mifepristone. We used high-throughput live microscopy with continuous recording to measure apoptotic cells stained with a fluorescent dye and Western blot analysis to detect caspase-3 and PARP cleavage. The effect of mifepristone on GR-mediated gene expression was also measured. TNBC xenograft studies were performed in female severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mice and tumors were measured following treatment with vehicle, paclitaxel, or mifepristone/paclitaxel.
Results: We found that although mifepristone treatment alone had no significant effect on TNBC cell viability or clonogenicity in the absence of chemotherapy, the addition of mifepristone to dexamethasone/paclitaxel treatment significantly increased cytotoxicity and caspase-3/PARP cleavage. Mifepristone also antagonized GR-induced SGK1 and MKP1/DUSP1 gene expression while significantly augmenting paclitaxel-induced GR+ MDA-MB-231 xenograft tumor shrinkage in vivo.
Conclusions: These results suggest that mifepristone pretreatment could be a useful strategy for increasing tumor cell apoptosis in chemotherapy-resistant GR+ TNBC.
©2013 AACR.
Figures
![Figure 1](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/instance/3860283/bin/nihms-524360-f0001.gif)
![Figure 2](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/instance/3860283/bin/nihms-524360-f0002.gif)
![Figure 3](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/instance/3860283/bin/nihms-524360-f0003.gif)
![Figure 4](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/instance/3860283/bin/nihms-524360-f0004.gif)
Similar articles
-
Nab-paclitaxel for the treatment of triple-negative breast cancer: Rationale, clinical data and future perspectives.Cancer Treat Rev. 2016 Nov;50:129-141. doi: 10.1016/j.ctrv.2016.09.004. Epub 2016 Sep 12. Cancer Treat Rev. 2016. PMID: 27665540 Review.
-
Hsp90 Inhibition Results in Glucocorticoid Receptor Degradation in Association with Increased Sensitivity to Paclitaxel in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer.Horm Cancer. 2016 Apr;7(2):114-26. doi: 10.1007/s12672-016-0251-8. Epub 2016 Feb 8. Horm Cancer. 2016. PMID: 26858237 Free PMC article.
-
Glucocorticoid receptor activation inhibits chemotherapy-induced cell death in high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma.Gynecol Oncol. 2015 Sep;138(3):656-62. doi: 10.1016/j.ygyno.2015.06.033. Epub 2015 Jun 24. Gynecol Oncol. 2015. PMID: 26115975 Free PMC article.
-
Glucocorticoid receptor activity contributes to resistance to androgen-targeted therapy in prostate cancer.Horm Cancer. 2014 Apr;5(2):72-89. doi: 10.1007/s12672-014-0173-2. Epub 2014 Mar 11. Horm Cancer. 2014. PMID: 24615402 Free PMC article.
-
Dexamethasone decreases xenograft response to Paclitaxel through inhibition of tumor cell apoptosis.Cancer Biol Ther. 2006 Aug;5(8):933-40. doi: 10.4161/cbt.5.8.2875. Epub 2006 Aug 2. Cancer Biol Ther. 2006. PMID: 16775428
Cited by
-
Sex-specific outcomes in cancer therapy: the central role of hormones.Front Med Technol. 2024 Feb 1;6:1320690. doi: 10.3389/fmedt.2024.1320690. eCollection 2024. Front Med Technol. 2024. PMID: 38362126 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Glucocorticoid receptor: a harmonizer of cellular plasticity in breast cancer-directs the road towards therapy resistance, metastatic progression and recurrence.Cancer Metastasis Rev. 2024 Mar;43(1):481-499. doi: 10.1007/s10555-023-10163-6. Epub 2024 Jan 3. Cancer Metastasis Rev. 2024. PMID: 38170347 Review.
-
Steroid profile in patients with breast cancer and in mice treated with mifepristone.Endocr Relat Cancer. 2023 Dec 13;31(2):e230238. doi: 10.1530/ERC-23-0238. Print 2024 Feb 1. Endocr Relat Cancer. 2023. PMID: 37962553 Free PMC article.
-
Exploring in vitro and in silico Biological Activities of Calligonum Comosum and Rumex Vesicarius: Implications on Anticancer and Antibacterial Therapeutics.Saudi Pharm J. 2023 Nov;31(11):101794. doi: 10.1016/j.jsps.2023.101794. Epub 2023 Sep 20. Saudi Pharm J. 2023. PMID: 37822695 Free PMC article.
-
Glucocorticoid Effect in Cancer Patients.Methods Mol Biol. 2023;2704:339-352. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-3385-4_21. Methods Mol Biol. 2023. PMID: 37642855
References
-
- Bamberger CM, Schulte HM, Chrousos GP. Molecular determinants of glucocorticoid receptor function and tissue sensitivity to glucocorticoids. Endocr Rev. 1996;17:245–61. - PubMed
-
- McKenna NJ, O'Malley BW. Combinatorial control of gene expression by nuclear receptors and coregulators. Cell. 2002;108:465–74. - PubMed
-
- Lewis-Tuffin LJ, Cidlowski JA. The physiology of human glucocorticoid receptor beta (hGRbeta) and glucocorticoid resistance. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2006;1069:1–9. - PubMed
Publication types
MeSH terms
Substances
Grants and funding
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Other Literature Sources
Medical
Research Materials
Miscellaneous