Groza Iulia-Monica, Braicu Cornelia, Jurj Ancuta, Zanoaga Oana, Lajos Raduly, Chiroi Paul, Cojocneanu Roxana, Paun Diana, Irimie Alexandru, Korban Schuyler S, Achimas-Cadariu Patriciu, Berindan-Neagoe Ioana
11th Department of Oncology, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 400012 Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
Department of Medical Oncology, The Oncology Institute "Prof. Dr. Ion Chiricuta", 400015 Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
Cancers (Basel). 2020 Oct 20;12(10):3053. doi: 10.3390/cancers12103053.
Breast cancer is one of the most common oncological diseases in women, as its incidence is rapidly growing, rendering it unpredictable and causing more harm than ever before on an annual basis. Alterations of coding and noncoding genes are related to tumorigenesis and breast cancer progression. In this study, several key genes associated with epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and cancer stem cell (CSC) features were identified. EMT and CSCs are two key mechanisms responsible for self-renewal, differentiation, and self-protection, thus contributing to drug resistance. Therefore, understanding of the relationship between these processes may identify a therapeutic vulnerability that can be further exploited in clinical practice, and evaluate its correlation with overall survival rate. To determine expression levels of altered coding and noncoding genes, The Cancer Omics Atlas (TCOA) are used, and these data are overlapped with a list of CSCs and EMT-specific genes downloaded from NCBI. As a result, it is observed that CSCs are reciprocally related to EMT, thus identifying common signatures that allow for predicting the overall survival for breast cancer genes (BRCA). In fact, common CSCs and EMT signatures, represented by ALDH1A1, SFRP1, miR-139, miR-21, and miR-200c, are deemed useful as prognostic biomarkers for BRCA. Therefore, by mapping changes in gene expression across CSCs and EMT, suggesting a cross-talk between these two processes, we have been able to identify either the most common or specific genes or miRNA markers associated with overall survival rate. Thus, a better understanding of these mechanisms will lead to more effective treatment options.
乳腺癌是女性中最常见的肿瘤疾病之一，其发病率正在迅速上升，变得难以预测，并且每年造成的危害比以往任何时候都更大。编码基因和非编码基因的改变与肿瘤发生和乳腺癌进展相关。在本研究中，鉴定了几个与上皮-间质转化（EMT）和癌症干细胞（CSC）特征相关的关键基因。EMT和CSC是负责自我更新、分化和自我保护的两个关键机制，从而导致耐药性。因此，了解这些过程之间的关系可能会确定一种在临床实践中可进一步利用的治疗弱点，并评估其与总生存率的相关性。为了确定编码基因和非编码基因改变的表达水平，使用了癌症组学图谱（TCOA），并将这些数据与从NCBI下载的CSC和EMT特异性基因列表进行重叠。结果发现，CSC与EMT相互关联，从而确定了可用于预测乳腺癌基因（BRCA）总生存率的共同特征。事实上，以ALDH1A1、SFRP1、miR-139、miR-21和miR-200c为代表的常见CSC和EMT特征被认为是BRCA有用的预后生物标志物。因此，通过绘制CSC和EMT之间基因表达的变化，表明这两个过程之间存在相互作用，我们能够识别与总生存率相关的最常见或特定基因或miRNA标志物。因此，更好地理解这些机制将带来更有效的治疗选择。
