Alternative splicing and the progesterone receptor in breast cancer

Progesterone receptor status is a marker for hormone responsiveness and disease prognosis in breast cancer. Progesterone receptor negative tumours have generally been shown to have a poorer prognosis than progesterone receptor positive tumours. The observed loss of progesterone receptor could be thr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Breast cancer research : BCR 2008-01, Vol.10 (3), p.207-207, Article 207
Main Authors: Cork, David M W, Lennard, Thomas W J, Tyson-Capper, Alison J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alternative Splicing
Breast cancer
Breast Neoplasms - genetics
Breast Neoplasms - metabolism
Exons
Gene Expression Profiling
Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic
Hormones - metabolism
Humans
Progesterone
Prognosis
Protein Isoforms
Receptors, Estrogen - metabolism
Receptors, Progesterone - biosynthesis
Receptors, Progesterone - genetics
Receptors, Progesterone - metabolism
Review
RNA
RNA, Messenger - metabolism
Transcription, Genetic
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Summary:Progesterone receptor status is a marker for hormone responsiveness and disease prognosis in breast cancer. Progesterone receptor negative tumours have generally been shown to have a poorer prognosis than progesterone receptor positive tumours. The observed loss of progesterone receptor could be through a range of mechanisms, including the generation of alternatively spliced progesterone receptor variants that are not detectable by current screening methods. Many progesterone receptor mRNA variants have been described with deletions of various whole, multiple or partial exons that encode differing protein functional domains. These variants may alter the progestin responsiveness of a tissue and contribute to the abnormal growth associated with breast cancer. Absence of specific functional domains from these spliced variants may also make them undetectable or indistinguishable from full length progesterone receptor by conventional antibodies. A comprehensive investigation into the expression profile and activity of progesterone receptor spliced variants in breast cancer is required to advance our understanding of tumour hormone receptor status. This, in turn, may aid the development of new biomarkers of disease prognosis and improve adjuvant treatment decisions.
ISSN:1465-542X
1465-5411
1465-542X
DOI:10.1186/bcr2097