Stromal EGF and igf-I together modulate plasticity of disseminated triple-negative breast tumors.

The causes for malignant progression of disseminated tumors and the reasons recurrence rates differ in women with different breast cancer subtypes are unknown. Here, we report novel mechanisms of tumor plasticity that are mandated by microenvironmental factors and show that recurrence rates are not strictly due to cell-intrinsic properties. Specifically, outgrowth of the same population of incipient tumors is accelerated in mice with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) relative to those with luminal breast cancer.

Identification of luminal breast cancers that establish a tumor-supportive macroenvironment defined by proangiogenic platelets and bone marrow-derived cells.

Unlabelled: Breast cancer recurrence rates vary following treatment, suggesting that tumor cells disseminate early from primary sites but remain indolent indefinitely before progressing to symptomatic disease. The reasons why some indolent disseminated tumors erupt into overt disease are unknown. We discovered a novel process by which certain luminal breast cancer (LBC) cells and patient tumor specimens (LBC "instigators") establish a systemic macroenvironment that supports outgrowth of otherwise-indolent disseminated tumors ("responders").