Potential signaling molecules involved in the progression of metastatic prostate, breast and colorectal cancer (TUM3P.1051)

Abstract

Abstract Metastases and their complications lead to death in up to 90% of cancer patients. Hematogenous metastasis is associated with loss of cell adhesion, migration in the blood (as individual circulating tumor cells, (CTC) or clusters), adhesion to the target organ and proliferation to form metastases. The present investigation was designed to demonstrate key molecules in the sera of metastatic cancer patients that induce ERK 1/2 and Survivin protein expression. We showed that CTCs grown in media supplemented with patient sera express the potential to form colonies and spheres followed by senescence. The cultured CTCs overexpressed ERK and Survivin, which reflects their aggressiveness. We demonstrated by immunofluorescence and western blot, with confirmation by qRT-PCR (in progress), that prostate, breast and colorectal cancer-derived cell lines cultured in media supplemented with sera from patients with CTCs, induced expression of ERK 1/2 and Survivin proteins. Using the MTT assay, we demonstrated that cancer-derived cell lines treated with sera from CTC positive patients showed accelerated proliferation compared to controls. It is anticipated that correlation with clinical data might reveal future potential targets for adjuvant therapy to minimize the risk of metastasis.