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Carcinogenesis Advance Access originally published online on February 23, 2009
Carcinogenesis 2009 30(6):903-911; doi:10.1093/carcin/bgp048
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Hedgehog signalling in breast cancer

Maria Kasper1,{dagger}, Viljar Jaks1,2,{dagger}, Marie Fiaschi1 and Rune Toftgård1,*

1 Department of Biosciences and Nutrition, Karolinska Institutet, Novum, SE-141 57 Huddinge, Sweden
2 Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology and Estonian Biocentre, University of Tartu, Riia 23, 51010 Tartu, Estonia

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel: +46-8-6089152; Fax: +46-8-6081501; Email: rune.toftgard{at}ki.se

Breast cancer is the most common cause of cancer death among women worldwide. In order to improve the treatment of this disease, a more complete understanding of its biological basis is necessary. Since the Hedgehog (Hh) pathway was recently found to be required for growth and propagation of a number of different cancers, we discuss here the possible involvement of this pathway in the normal biology and development of cancer in the mammary gland. The use of mouse mammary cancer models has assisted the process of dissecting the mechanisms behind Hh-driven mammary tumour formation and growth. Based on recent studies, we conclude that the inhibition of Hh signalling in breast tumours may interfere with the maintenance of a putative cancer stem cell compartment and the abnormal stimulation of tumour stroma. Therefore, the components of the Hh signalling cascade may provide a set of drug targets, which could be implemented into novel combinatorial strategies for the treatment of breast cancer.

Abbreviations: CSC, cancer stem cell; Dhh, Desert hedgehog; EGFR, epidermal growth factor receptor; EMT, epithelial–mesenchymal transition; ER, oestrogen receptor; Hh, hedgehog; Ihh, Indian hedgehog; MS, mammosphere; Ptch1, Patched; SFRP, secreted frizzled-related protein; Shh, Sonic hedgehog; SMA, smooth muscle actin; Smo, Smoothened; , Note: Human genes and proteins are in capital letters

{dagger} These authors contributed equally to this work.

Received November 4, 2008; revised February 8, 2009; accepted February 14, 2009.


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