Affiliations: [a] Women's Cancers Section, Laboratory of Molecular Pharmacology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA | [b] Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Texas Tech University Health Science Center, Amarillo, TX 79106, USA | [c] Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Western Ontario, and London Regional Cancer Program, London, Ont., Canada | [d] Brain Tumor Institute, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, OH, USA | National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
Abstract: Central nervous system or brain metastases traditionally occur in 10–16% of metastatic breast cancer patients and are associated with a dismal prognosis. The development of brain metastases has been associated with young age, and tumors that are estrogen receptor negative, Her-2+ or of the basal phenotype. Treatment typically includes whole brain irradiation, or either stereotactic radiosurgery or surgery with whole brain radiation, resulting in an ∼20% one year survival. The blood-brain barrier is a formidable obstacle to the delivery of chemotherapeutics to the brain. Mouse experimental metastasis model systems have been developed for brain metastasis using selected sublines of human MDA-MB-231 breast carcinoma cells. Using micron sized iron particles and MRI imaging, the fate of MDA-MB-231BR cells has been mapped: Approximately 2% of injected cells form larger macroscopic metastases, while 5% of cells remain as dormant cells in the brain. New therapies with permeability for the blood-brain barrier are needed to counteract both types of tumor cells.
DOI: 10.3233/BD-2007-26112
Journal: Breast Disease, vol. 26, no. 1, pp. 139-147, 2007
