Researchers identify new mechanism involved in promoting breast cancer

UMass Amherst researchers identify new mechanism involved in promoting breast cancer
D. Joseph Jerry is professor of veterinary and animal sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and also serves as science director of the Pioneer Valley Life Sciences Institute and co-director of the Rays of Hope Center for Breast Cancer Research in a partnership between UMass Amherst and Baystate Medical Center. Credit: UMass Amherst

A new approach to studying the effects of two common chemicals used in cosmetics and sunscreens found they can cause DNA damage in breast cells at surprisingly low concentrations, while the same dose did not harm cells without estrogen receptors.

The research, published Jan. 15 inEnvironmental Health Perspectives, identifies a new mechanism by which estrogens and xenoestrogens—environmental chemicals that act like estrogens—may promote, says breast cancer researcher D. Joseph Jerry, professor of veterinary andat the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Jerry also serves as science director of the Pioneer Valley Life Sciences Institute and co-director of the Rays of Hope Center for Breast Cancer Research in a partnership between UMass Amherst and Baystate Medical Center.

"The new research offers more sensitive tools to screen for the potential deleterious effects of environmental chemicals, which would be overlooked by methods currently used," Jerry explains. He notes that, such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), typically screen for toxicity of these chemicals in cell lines that don't have estrogen receptors.

这两个compounds-examined在l细胞生长ab and in the mammary glands of mice—were the ultraviolet filter benzophenone-3 (BP-3), also known as oxybenzone, and propylparaben (PP), an antimicrobial preservative found in cosmetics and other.

Jerry emphasizes that more research is needed to determine what this discovery may mean in terms of consumer guidelines. "Benzophenone-3 is a sunscreen that works. If you use it, you can prevent skin cancer. Am I arguing you shouldn't use sunscreen? I am not. But there may be a subset of people for whom it may present a significant hazard," says Jerry, such as women at high risk for breast cancer or those with a history of-positive breast cancer.

Previous research on the impact of BP-3 and PP focused on the exposure necessary to activate specific genes in cancer cells or accelerate their growth. "Those effects required concentrations that exceed the levels that most women are normally exposed to," Jerry says.

But the new research shows that DNA damage inwith estrogen receptors occurred at concentrations that are 1/10th to 1/30th of that required to stimulate proliferation or gene expression. "There may be a risk at lower levels than we would have previously understood," Jerry says.

Jerry and colleagues at UMass Amherst, UMass Medical Center-Baystate and Pioneer Valley Life Sciences Institute decided to look at whether PP and BP-3 have estrogenic effects at concentrations relevant to population exposures because "we know that estrogen can promote breast cancer," Jerry says.

"It's not toxic unless the cells have estrogen receptors," he says. "So it's acting through the estrogen receptor to create this damage. There is no consequence if you test it in other cells."


Explore further

Hidden estrogen receptors in the breast epithelium

更多的信息: Environmental Health Perspectives(2020).ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/10.1289/ehp5221
Citation: Researchers identify new mechanism involved in promoting breast cancer (2020, January 15) retrieved 13 June 2022 from //www.pyrotek-europe.com/news/2020-01-mechanism-involved-breast-cancer.html
This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.
72shares

Feedback to editors