Human Chorionic Gonadotropin and Breast Cancer

Abstract

Breast cancer is well known as a malignancy being strongly influenced by female steroids. Pregnancy is a protective factor against breast cancer. Human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) is a candidate hormone which could mediate this antitumoral effect of pregnancy. For this review article, all original research articles on the role of HCG in breast cancer were considered, which are listed in PubMed database and were written in English. The role of HCG in breast cancer seems to be a paradox. Placental heterodimeric HCG acts as a protective agent by imprinting a permanent genomic signature of the mammary gland determining a refractory condition to malignant transformation which is characterized by cellular differentiation, apoptosis and growth inhibition. On the other hand, ectopic expression of β-HCG in various cancer entities is associated with poor prognosis due to its tumor-promoting function. Placental HCG and ectopically expressed β-HCG exert opposite effects on breast tumorigenesis. Therefore, mimicking pregnancy by treatment with HCG is suggested as a strategy for breast cancer prevention, whereas targeting β-HCG expressing tumor cells seems to be an option for breast cancer therapy.

Good Guy or Bad Guy? The Duality of Wild-Type p53 in Hormone-Dependent Breast Cancer Origin, Treatment, and Recurrence

“…Early studies by Russo and others suggested that human placental hormone chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) provided an inhibitory action, leading to reduction in breast cancer risk, as reviewed in reference [ 54 ]. This long-lasting protective effect could also be reproduced by administering placental hCG to rats for 21 days [ 28 ].…”

“…This long-lasting protective effect could also be reproduced by administering placental hCG to rats for 21 days [ 28 ]. The mechanism proposed suggested placental hCG was responsible for imprinting the permanent changes in the genomic signature of the mammary gland [ 54 ]. These changes occurred within a time window of pregnancy rendering the cells refractory to malignant transformation [ 54 ].…”

“…The mechanism proposed suggested placental hCG was responsible for imprinting the permanent changes in the genomic signature of the mammary gland [ 54 ]. These changes occurred within a time window of pregnancy rendering the cells refractory to malignant transformation [ 54 ]. Russo’s laboratory compared gene expression profiles of rats exposed to combined estrogen and progesterone or hCG with untreated or pregnant rats [ 55 ].…”

“…In contrast, a large prospective study (1191 women with invasive breast cancer and 2257 controls) completed in Finland showed no correlation between early pregnancy hCG serum concentrations and breast cancer risk [ 57 ]. What is coming to light is that there are different forms of hCG, which may have opposing effects on breast cancer development, driving different outcomes in breast cancer risk [ 54 ]. The differences in hCG isoform expression may, in part, explain the controversial data surrounding hCG and breast cancer management.…”

The Evaluation of the Effects of Temozolomide on MGMT Gene Expression in MCF-7 and SKBR3 Human Breast Cancer Cell Lines

“…Breast cancer, together with lung and colorectal cancers, accounts for 46% of all cancer-related deaths in women and nearly half a million women die each year from this disease [1] [2]. It is a cancer type that still has the highest mortality rate among women, after lung cancer, in spite of a certain improvement in survival rates since the 1990s.…”