PTHrP is necessary for the formation of the embryonic mammary gland and, in its absence, the embryonic mammary bud fails to form the neonatal duct system. In addition, PTHrP is produced by the breast during lactation and contributes to the regulation of maternal calcium homeostasis during milk production. In this study, we examined the role of PTHrP during post-natal mammary development. Using ...

BACKGROUND Mammary ductoscopy (MD) is a newly developed endoscopic technique that allows direct visualisation of the mammary ductal epithelium using sub-millimetre fiberoptic microendoscopes inserted through the ductal opening onto the nipple surface. These scopes also provide working channels for insufflation, irrigation, ductal lavage, and possible therapeutic intervention. MD can be performe...

Neu differentiation factor (NDF, also called heregulin) is a 44-kilodalton glycoprotein that stimulates tyrosine phosphorylation of the Neu/HER-2 receptor and induces phenotypic differentiation of certain mammary cancer cell lines to growth-arrested and milk-producing cells. To determine which molecules participate in the concomitant morphological alterations, we analyzed the expression of seve...

Previous studies have shown that ETS-related protein 81 (ER81), a downstream gene of Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), may form a fusion protein with other proteins after chromosome translocation, leading to tumor formation, such as the fusion with the EWS gene and subsequent induction of Ewing’s sarcoma (Jeon et al., 1995; Janknecht, 2005). Some research data from several groups...

to the editor: The article on the risk of cancer in patients with benign breast disease by Hartmann et al. (July 21 issue) 1 contains some questionable assumptions. “Atypical ductal hyperplasia” and “lobular hyperplasia,” shown in Figure 1E and Figure 1F of the article, do not belong in the category of benign breast disease. Experienced pathologists know that the differentiation of the so-calle...

Paget’s disease of the breast was first described by Sir James Paget in 1874. Although rare, it is often associated with underlying carcinoma in situ or invasive cancer. It accounts for 1-3 % of mammary tumors and less than 5% of breast cancers in humans. We report the case of a 50 year-old patient presenting with left erosive lesion of the nipple evolving over more than 1 year. Clinical examin...

A common feature of human breast oncogenesis is cell cycle deregulation. The expression of cyclins D1 and D3 was examined during estradiol-17beta (E(2))-induced mammary tumorigenesis in female August Copenhagen Irish (ACI) rats. Low serum E(2) levels ( approximately 60-120 pg/ml) were sufficient to induce mammary gland tumors (MGTs) that remarkably resemble human ductal breast cancer (BC) at th...

BACKGROUND Invasive ductal carcinoma is a kind of very typical breast cancer. The goal of our research was to figure out the molecular mechanism of Invasive ductal carcinoma and to find out its potential therapy targets. RESULTS The total amount of 478 differentially expressed genes in Invasive ductal carcinoma which compared with normal breast epithelial cells were recognized. Functional enr...