Mechanisms of EGF receptor regulation in breast cancer cells

Abstract
Overexpression of the EGF receptor in breast cancer correlates with poor prognosis and failure on endocrine therapy for both ER−/EGFR+ and ER+/EGFR+ tumors, suggesting a role for EGFR in the progression to hormone independence. The identification of specific DNase I hypersensitive site patterns for the EGFR gene in ER+ vs. ER− cells implicates regions of the EGFR first intron in up-regulation of EGFR, while estrogen regulation studies indicate the involvement of a repressor(s) in the maintenance of low levels of EGFR. Based on these findings, a multi-step model is proposed for the progression of breast cancer from a hormone-dependent, ER+/EGFR- phenotype to an aggressive, hormone-independent, ER−/EGFR+ stage.

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