Breast cyst fluids increase proliferation of breast cell lines in correlation with their content of hormones and growth factors

ENRIORI PJ; VÁZQUEZ SM; CHIAUZZI V; PÉREZ C; FISCHER CR; ETKIN AE; CHARREAU EH; CALANDRA RS; LUTHY IA

CLINICAL ENDOCRINOLOGY

Año: 2006 vol. 64 p. 20 - 28

0300-0664

Objective and design: Gross cystic disease of the breast is reported to occur in 7% of women in the Western world and, although not pre-malignant, is thought to be associated with an increased breast cancer risk. Hormone and growth factor concentration levels were mea­sured in breast cyst fluid (BCF) to correlate them with their mitogenic activity on tumor (MCF-7) or non-trans­formed (MCF-10A) cells. Results: Estradiol (E2), estrone (E1), E2-sulphate (E2-S), E1-sulphate (E1-S) and EGF con­cen­­tra­tions were, as expected, significantly higher in Type I than in Type II cysts, while TGF-b2 showed higher le­vels in Type II cysts. 50% of the BCF samples stimu­lated [3H]-Thymidine incor­­po­ration to MCF-7 cells while 34.5% inhi­bi­ted this parame­ter. In MCF-10A, most BCF sam­ples were sti­mu­la­tory (85%). E2, E1, and EGF concen­tra­tions in BCF samples correla­ted sig­nifi­­cantly and positively with cell prolifera­tion on MCF-7 cells, whereas a significant negative corre­lation was found for TGF-b2. In MCF-10A cells, only E2-S, E1-S exhibited significant posi­ti­ve correlation, whereas a sig­ni­ficant ne­­ga­­tive correlation was found for TGF-b2.  Progesterone (Pg), E2 and EGF incu­ba­­ted under the same conditions had a stimulatory effect on [3H]-Thymidi­ne incor­poration to MCF-7 cells, whereas TGF-b2 inhibited this parameter. Pg, E2, E1 and EGF stimulated significantly this parameter in MCF-10A cells. Conclusions: The stimulatory action of BCF on cell proliferation on a model of human breast epithelial cells could partly explain the increased incidence of breast cancer on cyst bearers.