Watch out! Pesticide exposure contributes to tumor angiogenesis in our breasts

PONTILLO, CAROLINA; CHIAPPINI, FLORENCIA; KLEIMAN DE PISAREV, DIANA; ESPAÑOL, ALEJANDRO; COCCA, CLAUDIA; SALES, MARIA; ZARATE, LORENA; MIRET, NOELIA; ALVAREZ, LAURA; RANDI, ANDREA

Bruselas

Congreso; 54th Congress of the European Societies of Toxicology EUROTOX; 2018

European Societies of Toxicology

Hexachlorobenzene (HCB) is a fungicide detected in maternal milk, and Chlorpyrifos (CPF) is a pesticide currently used in agriculture. Breast cancer is by far the most frequently diagnosed cancer in women. HCB and CPF act as endocrine disruptor in rat mammary gland. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) promote tumor growth and angiogenesis. Nitric oxide (NO) and abnormal expression of nitric oxide synthases (NOS1, NOS2, NOS3) are implicated in tumor progression. Our aim was to examine the action of HCB and CPF on angiogenesis in mammary carcinogenesis in vivo and in vitro. In a breast cancer xenograft model with MCF-7 cells, HCB (3 mg/kg bw) and CPF (0.1 mg/kg bw) stimulate angiogenic switch (number of vessels/mm2) and increase VEGF expression (p