Antineoplastic activity of products derived from cellulose-containing materials: levoglucosenone and structurally-related derivatives as new alternatives for breast cancer treatment.

Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among women worldwide. For this reason, the development of new therapies is still essential. In this work we have analyzed the antitumor potential of levoglucosenone, a chiral building block derived from the pyrolysis of cellulose-containing materials such as soybean hulls, and three structurally related analogues.

Protein Kinase C Alpha (PKCα) overexpression leads to a better response to retinoid acid therapy through Retinoic Acid Receptor Beta (RARβ) activation in mammary cancer cells.

Purpose: Retinoids have proved to be effective for hematologic malignancies treatment but till nowadays, their use as single agent for the solid tumor's management is still controversial. All-trans retinoic acid (ATRA), the main active metabolite of vitamin A, exerts non-genomic interactions with different members of the protein kinase C (PKC) family, recognized modulators of different tumor progression pathways. To determine whether a group of patients could become benefited employing a retinoid therapy, in this study we have evaluated whether PKCα expression (a poor prognosis marker in breast cancer) could sensitizes mammary cells to ATRA treatment.