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  • Original Paper
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Increased expression of fibroblast growth factor 8 in human breast cancer

Abstract

Fibroblast growth factor 8 (FGF8) is an important developmental protein which is oncogenic and able to co-operate with wnt-1 to produce mouse mammary carcinoma. The level of expression of FGF8 mRNA was measured in 68 breast cancers and 24 non-malignant breast tissues. Elevated levels of FGF8 mRNA were found in malignant compared to non-malignant breast tissues with significantly more malignant tissues expressing FGF8 (P=0.019) at significantly higher levels (P=0.031). In situ hybridization of breast cancer tissues and analysis of purified populations of normal epithelial cells and breast cancer cell lines showed that malignant epithelial cells expressed FGF8 mRNA at high levels compared to non-malignant epithelial and myoepithelial cells and fibroblasts. Although two of the receptors which FGF8 binds to (FGFR2-IIIc, FGFR3-IIIc) are not expressed in breast cancer cells, an autocrine activation loop is possible since expression of fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) 4 and FGFR1 are retained in malignant epithelial cells. This is the first member of the FGF family to have increased expression in breast cancer and a potential autocrine role in its progression.

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Abbreviations

Fibroblast growth factor:

FGF

androgen induced growth factor:

AIGF

polymerase chain reaction:

PCR

fibroblast growth factor receptor 4:

FGFR4

epithelial membrane antigen:

EMA

common acute lymphoblastic leukaemia antigen:

CALLA

dihydrotestosterone:

DHT

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grants from the Cancer Research Campaign and the Buckle Family Trust. We thank Dr Clive Dickson for the generous provision of FGF8 cDNA.

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Marsh, S., Bansal, G., Zammit, C. et al. Increased expression of fibroblast growth factor 8 in human breast cancer. Oncogene 18, 1053–1060 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.onc.1202392

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