IGF1, energy balance, and mammary cancer

Luminal breast tumours with low ERα expression have a poor prognosis. Using the Met1 murine model of luminal breast cancer, Ford and colleagues characterised the IGF1-dependency of diet-induced obesity (DIO) and calorie restriction (CR) on tumour growth, growth factor signalling, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), and chemokine expression. They found that circulating IGF1 (in association with Akt, EMT, and chemokines) regulated tumour growth. While the anticancer effects of CR were largely IGF1-dependent, the procancer effects of DIO manifested only when circulating IGF1 levels were low. Thus, in a murine model of luminal breast cancer, IGF1 and its downstream signalling pathway, EMT, and chemokines present possible mechanistic regulatory targets. Transplanted MMTV1 Wnt1 mammary tumour growth was also reduced in LID mice, relative to LC mice, suggesting that the IGF1 effects on mammary tumour growth are not limited to Met1 tumours.

Read the full article in Ford and colleagues (2013) Endocrine-Related Cancer 20 39-51 DOI: 10.1530/ERC-12-0329