Bone Abstracts

Background: Breast cancer clinical trials have shown an enhanced anti-tumour activity of bone-targeted agents in postmenopausal patients. We have reported that zoledronic acid (ZOL) decreases serum levels of the tumour promoter follistatin in postmenopausal women and also inhibits expression of follistatin by breast tumour cells both in vitro and in vivo. We hypothesised that inhibin-A (InA) and ZOL may be altering bone levels of follistatin and its bound tum...

Background: We have recently identified interleukin 1B (IL-1B) as a potential biomarker for predicting breast cancer patients at increased risk for developing bone metastasis. In mouse models, IL-1B and its receptor (IL-1R1) are upregulated in breast cancer cells that metastasise to bone compared with cells that do not. We have now investigated whether blocking IL-1R with the clinically licensed antagonist, anakinra, might be a potential treatment for breast cancer and bone me...

Background: Cancer patients often receive a combination of drugs that target both the microenvironment and the tumour cells. However, the role of the bone microenvironment (BME) in mediating peripheral breast cancer growth remains poorly understood. This is the first study to determine whether reduced subcutaneous tumour growth following combination therapy is due to direct interactions between the drugs and tumour cells or through zoledronic acid induced alterations to the BM...