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Role of ErbB4 in Breast Cancer

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Journal of Mammary Gland Biology and Neoplasia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Members of the ErbB subfamily of receptor tyrosine kinases are important regulators of normal mammary gland physiology, and aberrations in their signaling have been associated with breast tumorigenesis. Therapeutics targeting epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR = ErbB1) or ErbB2 in breast cancer have been approved for clinical use. In contrast, relatively little is known about the biological significance of ErbB4 signaling in breast cancer. This review focuses on recent advances in our understanding about the role of ErbB4 in breast carcinogenesis, as well as in the potential clinical relevance of ErbB4 in breast cancer prognostics and therapy.

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Abbreviations

HER:

human epidermal growth factor receptor

EGFR:

epidermal growth factor receptor

ER:

estrogen receptor

PgR:

progesterone receptor

NRG:

neuregulin

TACE:

tumor necrosis factor-α converting enzyme

IHC:

immunohistochemistry

RT-PCR:

reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to warmly acknowledge the efforts of the International Genomics Consortium’s (IGC) Expression Project for Oncology (expO) for generation of some of the breast cancer data utilized in this study. Work in authors’ laboratories has been supported by Academy of Finland, EU-EPITRON (LSHC-CT-2005-518417), Finnish Cancer Organizations, Marie Curie Canceromics (MEXT-CT-2003-2728), and Sigrid Juselius Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Turku, Kiinamyllynkatu 10, 20520, Turku, Finland

    Maria Sundvall & Klaus Elenius

  2. Medicity Research Laboratory, University of Turku, Turku, Finland

    Maria Sundvall & Klaus Elenius

  3. Medical Biotechnology, VTT Technical Research Centre, Turku, Finland

    Kristiina Iljin & Olli-Pekka Kallioniemi

  4. FIMM—Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland, Helsinki, Finland

    Sami Kilpinen & Olli-Pekka Kallioniemi

  5. Genome-Scale Biology Research Program, Biomedicum, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    Sami Kilpinen & Olli-Pekka Kallioniemi

  6. Turku Centre for Biotechnology, University of Turku and Åbo Academi University, Turku, Finland

    Henri Sara & Olli-Pekka Kallioniemi

  7. Department of Oncology, Turku University Central Hospital, Turku, Finland

    Klaus Elenius

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  1. Maria Sundvall
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Sundvall, M., Iljin, K., Kilpinen, S. et al. Role of ErbB4 in Breast Cancer. J Mammary Gland Biol Neoplasia 13, 259–268 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10911-008-9079-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10911-008-9079-3

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