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Updated: Jun 1, 2026

Studying TGF-β Signaling and TGF-β-induced Epithelial-to-mesenchymal Transition in Breast Cancer and Normal Cells
Published on: October 27, 2020
TGF-beta 1 overexpression in breast cancer
E Christeli1, V Zoumpourlis, H Kiaris
1NATL HELLEN RES FDN, INST BIOL RES & BIOTECHNOL, ATHENS 11635, GREECE. UNIV CRETE, SCH MED, IRAKLION, GREECE. H VENIZELOU HOSP, ATHENS, GREECE.
Abstract:
TGF-beta 1 belongs to a family of pluripotent growth factors (TGF beta s) and has been implicated in the development and progression of human breast cancer. There are conflicting data though, suggesting that TGF-beta has the pontency both to promote and inhibit the progression of mammary neoplasia. We examined the expression of TGF-beta 1 mRNA in 24 breast carcinomas using the technique of the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to obtain quantitative results. Overexpression of TGF-beta 1 gene was found in 75% of the cases. We also correlated the overexpression of the TGF-beta 1 gene with clinicopathological parameters including histological grade, tumour cellularity, oestrogen receptor status (ER), progesterone receptor status (PR) and lymph node involvement. The results led us to the conclusion that the increasing ratio of overexpression related to the stage of cancer in an analogous way (P similar to 1). No significant association was identified between the ratio of overexpression and the grade, ER, PR, or lymph node involvement (r(s) = 0.5, 0.2, 0.1, 0.1 respectively; P < 0.0001) in all categories.
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