Study Confirms Breast Cancer and Autoimmune Arthritis Link
- By BSTQ Staff
New research reveals that patients suffering from both breast cancer and arthritis have a more aggressive cancer, a finding that could suggest a possible treatment. Experiments by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte have shown an intimate relationship between mast cells — immune system cells that are located in various tissues and that can cause inflammation — and metastatic tumors.
Researchers worked with two strains of mice. The first group had spontaneous arthritis and the second group had spontaneous breast cancer. They found that the population of mast cells within the bone and lung microenvironment was significantly higher in those mice with arthritis and breast cancer versus those without arthritis and breast cancer. The differentiation of mast cells from bone marrow-derived stem cells also was significantly higher in the arthritic versus the nonarthritic tumor-bearing mice.
Their findings point to a relationship between the c-kit receptor found on mast cells and on the transmembrane stem cell factor (SCF) ligand found on metastatic breast cancer cells. The interaction between SCF and c-kit appears to play a critical role in facilitating metastasis. Because of the suspected relationship, the researchers tested the effect of blocking the receptor by treating the mice with an anti-c-kit receptor antibody and celecoxib, an anti-inflammatory medication, which resulted in a greatly reduced incidence of breast cancer metastasis to the bone and lung.