Identification and functional analysis of a novel group of vascular mimicry-related genes for the development of treatments on prevention of breast cancer metastasis and recurrence

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K07192
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Tumor biology
• Research Institution: Department of Clinical Research, National Hospital Organization Kure Medical Center
• Principal Investigator: Ozaki Shinji 独立行政法人国立病院機構(呉医療センター臨床研究部), その他部局等, その他 (10558266)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 倉岡 和矢 独立行政法人国立病院機構(呉医療センター臨床研究部), その他部局等, その他 (00397928)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: 乳癌 / 血管擬態

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The clinical data of our hospital showed that HER2-enriched VM-positive cases were more likely to recur and tended to have a poorer prognosis. Moreover, the nuclear grade tended to be higher in VM-positive cases. Regarding the reproduction of VM formation in each human breast cancer cell line, the conditions of culture were examined, and it was possible to reproduce the VM formation in any cell line. From the above, it was shown that there are many VM positive cases in cases with high proliferative potential and high malignancy, and it was suggested that VM can be reproduced by using human breast cancer cell lines in future studies.

Free Research Field

乳腺外科

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

乳癌の治療成績は薬物療法の進歩により全体として改善傾向にあるが、悪性度の高い症例での予後改善は十分ではない。本研究により、HER2陽性、核グレードが高いなど、悪性度の高い乳癌においてVMの発現率が高いことが示され、乳癌症例の予後改善のための治療標的となる可能性が示唆された。また、今後の基礎実験のためにヒト乳癌細胞株がVM再現のために使用可能であることが分かり、in vivoへの実験へと発展させることが可能であると考えられた。