Abstract: Although the cause of breast cancer has not been identified yet, there is enough clinical and experimental evidence that full term pregnancy reduces the lifetime risk of developing breast cancer, a protective effect that can be mimicked by treatment of virgin animals with the placental hormone chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). In vivo this hormone inhibits both the initiation and progression of rat mammary carcinomas, and in vito the proliferation of human breast epithelial cells (HBEC). Work performed under this grant application has led the PI to determine that treatment of immortalized, chemically transformed and malignant HBEC with hCG activates programmed cell death genes even before an arrest of cell growth has becomes evident It also acts as an inhibitor of cell proliferation, utilizing different pathways for either activating programmed cell death genes or inhibiting specific cell cycle dependent kinases, depending upon the degree of expression of neoplastic phenotypes.
| Limitations: |
 APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE |
| Description: |
Annual rept. 1 Sep 96-31 Aug 97 |
| Pages: |
34 |
| Report Date: |
SEP 1997 |
| Contract Number: |
DAMD17-94-J-4224 |
| Report Number: |
A329833 |
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