Adrenergic receptors in breast cancer

PEREZ PIÑERO, C; RIVERO, E.M.; GARGIULO, L.; RODRIGUEZ, MS; BRUQUE, CD.; BRUZZONE, A.; LUTHY, I.A.

PROGRESS IN MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND TRANSLATIONAL SCIENCE

ELSEVIER ACADEMIC PRESS INC

Lugar: Burlington, MA, Estados Unidos; Año: 2022

0079-6603

Breast cancer is the most diagnosed malignancy in women worldwide and in the major-ity of the countries. Breast cancers are classified on the expression of estrogen and pro-gesterone receptor expression and overexpression of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) as luminal, HER2+ and triple negative breast cancer. The intrinsic molecular subtypes match this classification. Cancer diagnosis and treatment cause dis-tress. In both acute and chronic stress, the secreted catecholamines adrenaline and nor-adrenaline trigger the “fight-or-flight” response.This chapter focuses on the actions of the β2 and α2 adrenergic receptors in severalmodels of breast cancer. The actions of these receptors depend on the model used toinvestigate them. The β2-adrenergic receptors seem to exert a dual action. They candirectly act on the epithelial cells inhibiting cell proliferation and migration/invasionand indirectly upon the immune microenvironment. The proportion of β2 receptors ineach compartment could, therefore, lean the scale to an inhibition or to an exacerbationof tumor growth, invasion and metastasis. All the work points to a beneficial or neutralaction of β-blockers on breast cancer. With respect to α2-adrenergic receptors, the inves-tigation performed by our group suggest that the α2B and the α2C receptors are linked toenhanced cell proliferation and tumor growth acting through both the epithelial and thestromal (fibroblastic) compartments while α2A could be beneficial for patients. Someadrenergic compounds could be repurposed for breast cancer treatment due to their verylow side effects and very well-known pharmacology.