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Stromal Mediation of Radiation Carcinogenesis

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Journal of Mammary Gland Biology and Neoplasia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Ionizing radiation is a well-established carcinogen in human breast and rodent mammary gland. This review addresses evidence that radiation elicits the critical stromal context for cancer, affecting not only frequency but the type of cancer. Recent data from the breast tumors of women treated with radiation therapy and the cellular mechanisms evident in experimental models suggest that radiation effects on stromal-epithelial interactions and tissue composition are a major determinant of cancer development.

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Abbreviations

TGFβ:

Transforming growth factor β

ER:

estrogen receptor

PR:

progesterone receptor

EMT:

epithelial-mesenchymal transition

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Acknowledgements

The author wishes to acknowledge funding from NASA Specialized Center for Research in Radiation Health Effects, the Low Dose Radiation Program of the Office of Biological and Environmental Research, United States Department of Energy DE AC03 76SF00098, and the Bay Area Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Center grant number U01 ES012801 from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, NIH and the National Cancer Institute, NIH.

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  1. Departments of Radiation Oncology and Cell Biology, New York University School of Medicine, 566 First Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, USA

    Mary Helen Barcellos-Hoff

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Correspondence to Mary Helen Barcellos-Hoff.

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Barcellos-Hoff, M.H. Stromal Mediation of Radiation Carcinogenesis. J Mammary Gland Biol Neoplasia 15, 381–387 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10911-010-9197-6

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