Resistance to therapies, both targeted and systemic, and metastases to distant organs are the underlying causes of breast cancer-associated mortality. The second edition of Breast Cancer Metastasis and Drug Resistance brings together some of the leading experts to comprehensively understand breast cancer: the factors that make it lethal, and current research and clinical progress. This volume covers the following core topics: basic understanding of breast cancer (statistics, epidemiology, racial disparity and heterogeneity), metastasis and drug resistance (bone metastasis, trastuzumab resistance, tamoxifen resistance and novel therapeutic targets, including non-coding RNAs, inflammatory cytokines, cancer stem cells, ubiquitin ligases, tumor microenvironment and signaling pathways such as TRAIL, JAK-STAT and mTOR) and recent developments in the field (epigenetic regulation, microRNAs-mediated regulation, novel therapies and the clinically relevant 3D models). Experts also discuss the advances in laboratory research along with their translational and clinical implications with an overarching goal to improve the diagnosis and prognosis, particularly that of breast cancer patients with advanced disease.

This work presents the most advanced discoveries from translational research laboratories directly involved in identifying molecules and signalling pathways that play an instrumental role in metastasis. In contrast to other works, conventionally focused on a single type of tumour, the various chapters in this book provide a broad perspective of the similarities and discrepancies among the dissemination of several solid malignancies. Through recurrent and overlapping references to molecular mechanisms and mediators, the readers will gain knowledge of the common ground in metastasis from a single source. Finally, an introductory chapter provides a clinical perspective of the problems presented by metastatic tumours for diagnosis and treatment. The work presented here is directed to researchers in tumour biology with a developing interest in metastatic dissemination as well as medical and graduate students seeking to expand and integrate the notions acquired in basic cancer biology and oncology courses.

Principles of Bone Biology provides the most comprehensive, authoritative reference on the study of bone biology and related diseases. It is the essential resource for anyone involved in the study of bone biology. Bone research in recent years has generated enormous attention, mainly because of the broad public health implications of osteoporosis and related bone disorders. - Provides a "one-stop" shop. There is no need to search through many research journals or books to glean the information one wants...it is all in one source written by the experts in the field - The essential resource for anyone involved in the study of bones and bone diseases - Takes the reader from the basic elements of fundamental research to the most sophisticated concepts in therapeutics - Readers can easily search and locate information quickly as it will be online with this new edition

"Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed and the second leading cause of cancer deaths in Canadian women. The most devastating and deadly feature of the disease is the emergence of metastases. Breast cancer most commonly metastasizes to bone, often leading to a significantly decreased quality of life in affected patients. Despite progress in understanding the underlying molecular biology of breast tumors that relapse to bone, to date there are no therapies capable of curing the disease. Hence, it is essential to gain a more in-depth knowledge of the molecular mechanisms that underlie the emergence and growth of breast cancer skeletal metastases. Consequently, it was attempted to: 1) examine the efficacy of targeting a known pathway important for breast cancer metastasis to bone, 2) identify novel mediators of this process and 3) develop a stratification tool capable of identifying patients with breast cancer that possesses a high likelihood of spreading to bone. Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-[beta]) signaling is a potent modulator of the invasive and metastatic behavior of breast cancer cells. The work in this thesis demonstrates that expression of a TGF-[beta] ligand trap, which neutralizes TGF-[beta]1 and TGF-[beta]3 in breast cancer cells, diminished their outgrowth in bone and reduced the severity of osteolytic lesion formation. It is further shown that a reduction or loss of host-derived TGF-[beta]1 reduced the incidence of breast tumor outgrowth in the skeleton. Moreover, tumor cells capable of growing within the bone of a TGF-[beta]1 deficient host up-regulated expression of all three TGF-[beta] isoforms within the tumor cells themselves, effectively bypassing the host-deficiency. Next, a gene discovery approach was undertaken to identify novel candidate mediators of breast cancer skeletal metastasis. Invasive breast epithelium was selectively isolated by laser capture microdissection (LCM) performed on bone metastases and primary tumors from patients displaying breast cancer with subsequent recurrence to the skeleton. In this search, ABCC5 was found to be overexpressed in osseous metastases compared to primary mammary tumors metastatic to bone. Furthermore, this protein was detected at substantially higher levels in human and mouse breast cancer cells, which metastasize to bone in animal models. Importantly, removal of this protein from these cells resulted in their decreased ability to induce osteolytic bone lesions, which was correlated with a decreased recruitment of osteoclasts, cells responsible for the bone resorption process. Finally, the molecular changes occurring within the primary breast tumor were investigated in an attempt to identify a prognostic bone metastatic signature. Gene expression profiling was performed on estrogen receptor (ER)-positive primary breast tumors metastastatic to bone and breast cancers, which spread to soft tissue. A 25-gene signature was derived from the top 100 differentially expressed probes and was found to be capable of discriminating breast tumors metastatic to bone from cancers recurring to visceral sites in an independent gene expression dataset." --

An overview of the current systems biology-based knowledge and the experimental approaches for deciphering the biological basis of cancer.

The first comprehensive reference to focus on the molecular development and treatment of the disease, Molecular Oncology of Breast Cancer provides authoritative information across the spectrum of modern breast cancer research and clinical care. Edited by two world-class experts in cancer pathology, drug development, and patient management, with contributions from over 50 experts, this ground-breaking text describes the genes, proteins, and biologic pathways that are being evaluated today and will be tested in the future to derive the molecular signature of each newly diagnosed breast cancer. For the first time, readers can now obtain, in a single volume, up-to-date information on how molecular-based tests are being used to identify predisposition, provide earliest detection, decide classification based on genetic fingerprint and predict therapy-specific outcomes. MOBC includes unique chapters on functional imaging and the impact of targeted therapies on the FDA approval process. This book gives readers vital, up-to-date information on important molecular discoveries that affect the everyday management of the breast cancer patient.

Most cancer deaths are a result of metastasis. The spread of a primary tumor to colonize neighboring and distant organs is the relentless endgame that defines the neoplastic process. Patients who have been diagnosed with cancer are treated to prevent both the recurrence of the tumor at the site of origin and metastasis that would re-stage them as advanced stage IV cancer. Historically and still with some types of cancer, stage IV is perceived by patients as “terminal.” Fortunately, recent molecular therapies have extended the lives of patients with advanced cancer and reassuringly people living with metastatic disease increasingly visit our clinics. What is the path forward? Given that the consilience of science and medicine is a dynamic art from which therapies arise, it would be misguided to consider any single work adequate at capturing the horizon for research. So with humility we constructed this text as primer for scientists. It begins with a broad introduction to the clinical management of common cancers. This is intended to serve as a foundation for investigators to consider when developing basic science hypotheses. Unquestionably, medical and surgical care of cancer patients reveals biology and dictates how novel therapeutics will ultimately be evaluated in clinical trials. The second section of this text offers provocative and evolving insights that underscore the breadth of science involved in the elucidation of cancer metastasis biology. The text concludes with information that integrates scientific and clinical foundations to highlight translational research. This book serves as a framework for scientists to conceptualize clinical and translational knowledge on the complexity of disease that is metastatic cancer.

This volume examines in detail the role of chronic inflammatory processes in the development of several types of cancer. Leading experts describe the latest results of molecular and cellular research on infection, cancer-related inflammation and tumorigenesis. Further, the clinical significance of these findings in preventing cancer progression and approaches to treating the diseases are discussed. Individual chapters cover cancer of the lung, colon, breast, brain, head and neck, pancreas, prostate, bladder, kidney, liver, cervix and skin as well as gastric cancer, sarcoma, lymphoma, leukemia and multiple myeloma.

This book describes recent advances in translational research in breast cancer and presents emerging applications of this research that promise to have meaningful impacts on diagnosis and treatment. It introduces ideas and materials derived from the clinic that have been brought to "the bench" for basic research, as well as findings that have been applied back to "the bedside". Detailed attention is devoted to breast cancer biology and cell signaling pathways and to cancer stem cell and tumor heterogeneity in breast cancer. Various patient-derived research models are discussed, and a further focus is the role of biomarkers in precision medicine for breast cancer patients. Next-generation clinical research receives detailed attention, addressing the increasingly important role of big data in breast cancer research and a wide range of other emerging developments. An entire section is also devoted to the management of women with high-risk breast cancer. Translational Research in Breast Cancer will help clinicians and scientists to optimize their collaboration in order to achieve the common goal of conquering breast cancer.

Expert laboratory and clinical researchers from around the world review how to design and evaluate studies of tumor markers and examine their use in breast cancer patients. The authors cover both the major advances in sophisticated molecular methods and the state-of-the-art in conventional prognostic and predictive indicators. Among the topics discussed are the relevance of rigorous study design and guidelines for the validation studies of new biomarkers, gene expression profiling by tissue microarrays, adjuvant systemic therapy, and the use of estrogen, progesterone, and epidermal growth factor receptors as both prognostic and predictive indicators. Highlights include the evaluation of HER2 and EGFR family members, of p53, and of UPA/PAI-1; the detection of rare cells in blood and marrow; and the detection and analysis of soluble, circulating markers.