Breast Cancer Research Group Presents Work in San Antonio - Poster 1
The Effect of Tetrathiomolybdate on Circulating Endothelial Progenitor Cells in Patients with Breast Cancer at High Risk of Recurrence
Victoria S Blinder, M.D., M.Sc.1, Stephanie Jeske, M.D.1, Maureen E Lane, Ph.D.1, Maureen M Ward, M.A.1, Ellen Chuang, M.D.1, Tessa Cigler, M.D., M.P.H.1, Anne L Moore, M.D.1, Ronald J Scheff, M.D.1, Marta E Cobham, R.N.1, Diana Donovan, R.N.1, Delbra Rice, B.A.1, Paul J Christos, M.S., M.P.H.2 and Linda T Vahdat, M.D.1 - Weill Cornell Medical College
Breast cancer recurrence risk increases with increasing tumor size and number of lymph nodes involved with cancer at the time of diagnosis. Stage 4 breast cancer is considered an incurable disease even if a complete remission with chemotherapy is obtained (also called Stage 4 with no evidence of disease or Stage 4 NED). There are few additional treatment options after completion of adjuvant therapy for the moderate and high-risk patients. For patients who are Stage 4 NED there is no standard treatment approach. The observation that has always puzzled researchers is why a patient can relapse with cancer after many years of being cancer-free. Similarly, in patients whose cancer has spread, why can a treatment that removes all visible traces of breast cancer recur again? Multiple lines of evidence point to the fact that cancer cells lie dormant awaiting for a "signal" to start growing. It is believed that a crucial part of this "signal" is the ability to recruit blood vessels to the dormant tumor cell so that it can lay down blood vessels to feed itself and spread. This signal has been termed the "angiogenic switch".
There are many compounds being tested that might affect the turning on of this "angiogenic switch". These are called anti-angiogenesis agents. It is well known that copper plays an essential role in the angiogenic process hence anti-copper strategies have been employed to try to halt this process. Experiments in laboratory animals and people with advanced cancer support this concept. This was a report of an ongoing study in which 22 women are receiving the copper depletion compound called TM. This compound was very well tolerated and the cells we believe play a critical role in keeping this switch in the "off" position, seem to be maintained at a low level. In our study, we propose to study the effects of a copper-reducing compound, tetrathiomolybdate (TM), on the pro-angiogenic factors we believe are important in this process.