Status of the platelet derived growth factor receptor alpha in inflammatory breast cancer patients
Date
2016
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
IBC is arguably the most deadly form of breast cancer due to its unique development including the lack of formed lumps, having symptoms similar to inflammation, and also due to its rapid and aggressive invasion. IBC occurrence and incidence are high at younger ages and also in some ethnic groups like African American women and North African women. Diagnosis of IBC can be made clinically if the patient shows symptoms such as swelling, orange-like skin appearance, redness, nipple inversion, breast discharges, rapid onset of the disease, young age, and the duration of the symptoms is less than 6 months. Another type of diagnosis is pathologic diagnosis where there is emboli invasion in lymphatic vessels of the skin overlying the breast and the lack of a palpable tumor. In a previous study by my laboratory we demonstrated that the IBC gene profile shows high level expression of platelet derived growth factor receptor alpha (PDGFRA), a receptor tyrosine kinase. This overexpression stimulates cell oncogenesis. My project focuses on determining the expression, localization, and phosphorylation status of PDGFRA in patient samples, as well as determining PDGFRA’s role as an effective target to induce sensitivity to chemotherapy drugs and overcome chemotherapy drug resistance. A third focus of this project is to evaluate the significance that PDGFRA contributes in IBC cell line growth, emboli formation, and invasion rate.