The majority of anti-cancer therapies target the proliferating tumor cells, while the tumor stroma, principally unaffected, survives, and provide a niche for surviving tumor cells. Combining tumor cell and stroma-targeting therapies thus have a potential to improve patient outcome. The neuroblastoma stroma contains cancer-associated fibroblasts expressing microsomal prostaglandin E synthase-1 (mPGES-1).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe importance of prostaglandin E in cancer progression is well established, but research on its role in cancer has so far mostly been focused on epithelial cancer in adults while the knowledge about the contribution of prostaglandin E to childhood malignancies is limited. Neuroblastoma, an extracranial solid tumor of the sympathetic nervous system, mainly affects young children. Patients with tumors classified as high-risk have poor survival despite receiving intensive treatment, illustrating a need for new treatments complimenting existing ones.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDespite recent progress in diagnosis and treatment, survival for children with high-risk metastatic neuroblastoma is still poor. Prostaglandin E (PGE)-driven inflammation promotes tumor growth, immune suppression, angiogenesis and resistance to established cancer therapies. In neuroblastoma, cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) residing in the tumor microenvironment are the primary source of PGE.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe recently identified pathogenic β mutations in sympathetic nervous system malignancies that are defective in developmental apoptosis. Here we deleted β in the mouse sympathetic nervous system and observed impaired sympathetic nervous function and misexpression of genes required for sympathoadrenal lineage differentiation. We discovered that KIF1Bβ is required for nerve growth factor (NGF)-dependent neuronal differentiation through anterograde transport of the NGF receptor TRKA.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMYCN amplification and MYC signaling are associated with high-risk neuroblastoma with poor prognosis. Treating these tumors remains challenging, although therapeutic approaches stimulating differentiation have generated considerable interest. We have previously shown that the MYCN-regulated miR-17∼92 cluster inhibits neuroblastoma differentiation by repressing estrogen receptor alpha.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe majority of solid tumors are presented with an inflammatory microenvironment. Proinflammatory lipid mediators including prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) contribute to the establishment of inflammation and have been linked to tumor growth and aggressiveness. Here we show that high-risk neuroblastoma with deletion of chromosome 11q represents an inflammatory subset of neuroblastomas.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2)) is an important mediator in tumor-promoting inflammation. High expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) has been detected in the embryonic childhood tumor neuroblastoma, and treatment with COX inhibitors significantly reduces tumor growth. Here, we have investigated the significance of a high COX-2 expression in neuroblastoma by analysis of PGE(2) production, the expression pattern and localization of PGE(2) receptors and intracellular signal transduction pathways activated by PGE(2).
View Article and Find Full Text PDF