Oncology Abstracts

Deregulation of the CDK4/6-cyclin D-Rb-E2F pathway is common in subtypes (e.g. ER+/HER2−) of breast cancer, and activation/amplification of cyclin D1 (CCND1) and CDK4/6, or deletion/mutation of CDKN2A gene that encodes p16INK4a are the major mechanisms. Aberration in the upstream pathways such as PI3K/Akt/mTOR can also lead to the deregulation of the CDK4/6 axis, which drives carcinogenesis and development of resistance to therapies. Therefore, inhibition of CDK4/6 is a ...

Mammographic density (MD) is an independent risk factor for breast cancer, however what molecule or pathway within MD tissue contributes to this risk? High MD is characterized by an abundance of connective tissue stroma which is rich in heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPGs). Of these, SDC1 and SDC4 are upregulated in breast cancer, and we have observed a significantly higher abundance of these proteins in high vs low MD pair-wise comparisons from breast tissue from 8 individua...