Schüler-Toprak Susanne, Treeck Oliver, Ortmann Olaf
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Medical Center Regensburg, Caritas-Hospital St. Josef, 93053 Regensburg, Germany.
Int J Mol Sci. 2017 Jul 21;18(7):1587. doi: 10.3390/ijms18071587.
Breast cancer is well known as a malignancy being strongly influenced by female steroids. Pregnancy is a protective factor against breast cancer. Human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) is a candidate hormone which could mediate this antitumoral effect of pregnancy. For this review article, all original research articles on the role of HCG in breast cancer were considered, which are listed in PubMed database and were written in English. The role of HCG in breast cancer seems to be a paradox. Placental heterodimeric HCG acts as a protective agent by imprinting a permanent genomic signature of the mammary gland determining a refractory condition to malignant transformation which is characterized by cellular differentiation, apoptosis and growth inhibition. On the other hand, ectopic expression of β-HCG in various cancer entities is associated with poor prognosis due to its tumor-promoting function. Placental HCG and ectopically expressed β-HCG exert opposite effects on breast tumorigenesis. Therefore, mimicking pregnancy by treatment with HCG is suggested as a strategy for breast cancer prevention, whereas targeting β-HCG expressing tumor cells seems to be an option for breast cancer therapy.
乳腺癌是一种众所周知的受女性甾体激素强烈影响的恶性肿瘤。妊娠是预防乳腺癌的一个保护因素。人绒毛膜促性腺激素（HCG）是一种可能介导妊娠这种抗肿瘤作用的激素。在撰写这篇综述文章时，我们纳入了所有关于HCG在乳腺癌中作用的原创性研究文章，这些文章均列于PubMed数据库中且为英文撰写。HCG在乳腺癌中的作用似乎自相矛盾。胎盘异二聚体HCG通过在乳腺中留下永久性的基因组印记，从而发挥保护作用，这种印记决定了乳腺对恶性转化的难治状态，其特征为细胞分化、凋亡和生长抑制。另一方面，β-HCG在各种癌症实体中的异位表达因其促肿瘤功能而与预后不良相关。胎盘HCG和异位表达的β-HCG在乳腺肿瘤发生过程中发挥相反的作用。因此，建议使用HCG治疗来模拟妊娠，作为预防乳腺癌的一种策略，而靶向表达β-HCG的肿瘤细胞似乎是乳腺癌治疗的一种选择。
