Adipose Tissue Properties in Tumor-Bearing Breasts

• Published in: Frontiers in oncology Vol. 10
• Main Authors: Miran, Isabelle, Scherer, Dominique, Ostyn, Pauline, Mazouni, Chafika, Drusch, Françoise, Bernard, Marine, Louvet, Emilie, Adam, Julien, Mathieu, Marie-Christine, Haffa, Mariam, Antignac, Jean-Philippe, Le Bizec, Bruno, Vielh, Philippe, Dessen, Philippe, Perdry, Hervé, Delaloge, Suzette, Feunteun, Jean
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media 21.08.2020; Frontiers Media S.A
• Subjects: adipose tissue; breast cancer; Cancer; Human health and pathology; IL-8; Life Sciences; non-cell autonomous; Oncology; permissive cancer niche; Tissues and Organs; adipose tissue; breast cancer; permissive cancer niche; non-cell autonomous; IL-8
• ISSN: 2234-943X; 2234-943X
• DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2020.01506

The tissue stroma plays a major role in tumors' natural history. Most programs for tumor progression are not activated as cell-autonomous processes but under the conditions of cross-talks between tumor and stroma. Adipose tissue is a major component of breast stroma. This study compares adipose tissues in tumor-bearing breasts to those in tumor-free breasts with the intention of defining a signature that could translate into markers of cancer risk. In tumor-bearing breasts, we sampled adipose tissues adjacent to, or distant from the tumor. Parameters studied included: adipocytes size and density, immune cell infiltration, vascularization, secretome and gene expression. Adipose tissues from tumor-bearing breasts, whether adjacent to or distant from the tumor, do not differ from each other by any of these parameters. By contrast, adipose tissues from tumor-bearing breasts have the capacity to secrete twice as much interleukin 8 (IL-8) than those from tumor-free breasts and differentially express a set of 137 genes of which a significant fraction belongs to inflammation, integrin and wnt signaling pathways. These observations show that adipose tissues from tumor-bearing breasts have a distinct physiological status from those from tumor-free breasts. We propose that this constitutive status contributes as a non-cell autonomous process to determine permissiveness for tumor growth.