Abstract 2396: Short-term calorie restriction alters expression of tumor suppressor p21 in HER2-overexpressing breast cancer

• Published in: Cancer research (Chicago, Ill.) Ill.), 2018-07, Vol.78 (13_Supplement), p.2396-2396
• Main Authors: Rainey, Magdalena A., Smith, Laura A., O'Flanagan, Ciara H., Hursting, Stephen D.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0008-5472; 1538-7445
• DOI: 10.1158/1538-7445.AM2018-2396

Breast cancer (BC) is the most common noncutaneous cancer among US women, and ~20% of these cancers overproduce the growth-promoting tyrosine kinase receptor, HER2. Although there are targeted treatments available for HER2-overexpressing BC, there remains an urgent need to identify new treatment strategies since this disease is associated with poor prognosis, resistance to therapy, and high risk of recurrence. We have established that calorie restriction (CR; 30% reduction in total energy relative to ad libitum-fed controls) has significant tumor suppressive effects across all breast cancer subtypes and has potential to be utilized as an adjunctive therapy. This study investigates the mechanisms by which CR decreases HER2-overexpressing BC progression. To mimic CR in vitro, murine MMTV-neu cells that overexpress neu, the rodent homolog of HER2, were treated with media containing reduced serum (1%), reduced glucose (1mM), or reduced serum and reduced glucose (1%/1mM) compared to control media (10% serum, 25mM glucose). MTT assays demonstrated that both serum restricted medias (1% and 1%/1mM) significantly decreased cellular viability (p