Abstract 3300: MYC regulation of a “poor prognosis” metastatic cancer cell state

Proceedings: AACR 101st Annual Meeting 2010‐‐ Apr 17‐21, 2010; Washington, DC Gene expression signatures are used clinically as prognostic tools to determine the risk of individual patients with localized breast tumors developing distant metastasis. However, we lack a clear understanding of whether these correlative biomarkers link to a common biological network that regulates metastasis. METHODS: In order to address this question, we analyzed thirteen different well-described (including two in clinical use) “poor outcome” cancer signatures in a cell line model of estrogen receptor positive breast cancer (MCF7) manipulated by diverse oncogenic stimuli. RESULTS: We find that the c-MYC oncoprotein coordinately regulates the expression of these thirteen different “poor outcome” cancer signatures. In addition, functional inactivation of MYC in human breast cancer cells specifically inhibits their distant metastasis in vivo and invasive behavior in vitro. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that MYC oncogene activity, as reflected by “poor prognosis” signature expression, may be necessary for the translocation of “poor outcome” human breast tumors to distant sites. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 3300.