The effects of PPARy in breast cancer models

• Grant number: 21/00648-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: July 01, 2021
• End date: June 30, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Immunology - Immunogenetics
• Principal Investigator: José Cesar Rosa Neto
• Grantee: Lindssen de Lima Torquato
• Host Institution: Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas (ICB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Cancer is the disorderly and aggressive growth of cells, existing more than 100 types of cancer. This complex group of diseases is the second leading cause of death worldwide, second only to cardiovascular disease. Just in 2018, Brazil recorded a total of 224,712 deaths from cancer, 117,477 men and 107,235 women, of whom 17,572 (16.4%) were due to some type of breast cancer. It is estimated that, in Brazil, R$ 18.9 billion was spent on cancer treatment; SUS (Brazil's Unified Health System) itself spent R$ 4.5 billion in 2017. In 2016 the average cost per breast cancer patient at SUS was a total of R$ 315,954. Doxorubicin, a chemotherapy drug from the anthracycline family, is widely used in clinical practice because it is considered effective against a large number of solid tumors. However, it can be cytotoxic, disrupting the cancer treatment itself, causing cell damages that increases oncogenesis, in addition to affecting transcription factors, among them, PPARy (gamma receptor activated proliferative peroxisome). In this work we will study PPARy, a transcriptional factor of the PPARs family and an important promoter of adipogenesis, lipogenesis, glucose uptake, adipokines synthesis and inflammation cessation, besides playing a significant role in cell differentiation and proliferation, it has its distribution in tissues and metabolic function in different patterns depending on the tumor's type and stage. The general aim of this study is to determine the importance of PPARy in the development of different models of breast cancer in order to collaborate in the research on PPARy and its expression and in the fight against this cancer that most kills women worldwide. For this, we will evaluate the PPAR³ gene expression in breast tumors (luminal A, luminal B, HER2 + and triple negative) of the biobank of the Cancer Institute of the State of São Paulo (ICESP).