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Corticotropin-releasing factor reduces tumor volume, halts further growth, and enhances the effect of chemotherapy in 4T1 mammary carcinoma in mice

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Tumor Biology

Abstract

The present study examines the effect of the endogenous neuroendoccrine factor, corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), alone or in combination with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), on 4T1 mammary tumor cells in vitro and in vivo. CRF has been detected in breast cancer tissues; however, the biological effects reported in the literature are sparse and variable. We found that exogenously administered CRF significantly reduced tumor growth without influencing angiogenesis or cell death. Furthermore, CRF reduced tumor interstitial fluid pressure (Pif) and potentiated the effect of 5-FU. These results show that CRF has antitumor effect on mammary carcinoma in mice.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grant from The Research Council of Norway.

Conflicts of interest

E.T. Wei is part holder in two US patents (06803359 and 063319900) on the use of CRF analogs for the inhibition of abnormal cell growth.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedicine, University of Bergen, Jonas Lies vei 91, 5009, Bergen, Norway

    Linda E. B Stuhr & Rolf K. Reed

  2. Centre for Cancer Biomarkers, Bergen, Norway

    Linda E. B Stuhr & Rolf K. Reed

  3. School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA

    Eddie T. Wei

Authors
  1. Linda E. B Stuhr
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  2. Eddie T. Wei
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  3. Rolf K. Reed
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Correspondence to Rolf K. Reed.

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Stuhr, L.E.B., Wei, E.T. & Reed, R.K. Corticotropin-releasing factor reduces tumor volume, halts further growth, and enhances the effect of chemotherapy in 4T1 mammary carcinoma in mice. Tumor Biol. 35, 1365–1370 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13277-013-1186-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13277-013-1186-0

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