Breast cancer and pregnancy: Study of the metabolomic profile of placentas from women diagnosed with breast cancer during pregnancy. Assessment of the effects of tumor growth and exposure to chemotherapy treatment.

• Grant number: 24/00147-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: March 01, 2024
• End date: February 28, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Physiology - Physiology of Organs and Systems
• Principal Investigator: Laís Rosa Viana
• Grantee: Gabriela Fontana de Mesquita
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biologia (IB). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 21/08931-0 - Cancer and pregnancy: proteomic, transcriptomic and metabolic alterations in placenta from pregnant women with cancer and Wistar pregnant Walker 256 tumour-bearing rats, AP.JP

Abstract

The incidence of cancer during pregnancy is increasing significantly due to advanced maternal age at first pregnancy. This clinical picture represents a major therapeutic challenge, since maternal and fetal/neonatal health needs to be considered. In this context, changes may occur in the placenta, which harm pregnancy and fetal health. These placental changes can be of multifactorial origin, such as changes at levels transcriptional, protein and metabolic. However, these changes are still unknown, even with the high incidence of complications, such as intrauterine growth restriction and premature birth. Premature birth is the main cause of neonatal mortality and is associated with an increase of up to 75% in long-term morbidity. Considering that the molecular mechanisms responsible for changes in the placenta when it develops simultaneously with cancer are unknown, there are no treatments to maintain the health of the placenta and fetus. Therefore, the elucidation of the molecular mechanisms involved in the placenta may bring possibilities for future therapeutic development. In this sense, the use of methodologies with exploratory and global characteristics such as "omics" is necessary. Among omics, metabolomics is especially interesting as it provides data about the metabolites generated by cellular processes, thus reflecting the phenotype of the target tissue. Therefore, the objective of this work is to identify the metabolomic profile of placentas from women with breast cancer who received chemotherapy treatment. To this end, placentas from these patients will be analyzed, pairing placentas from pregnancies with usual risk. For this study, samples already collected and stored in the placenta biobank at Hospital da Mulher Prof. will be used. Dr. J. A. Pinotti-Caism/Unicamp. For metabolomics analyses, the metabolites will be extracted and then analyzed using the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) technique and the quantification of metabolites will be carried out using the Chenomx NMR Suite software. The Metaboanalyst 5.0 software (https://www.metaboanalyst.ca/) will be used to perform the analyzes multivariate statistics. Data will be selected with statistical significance of p <0.05 after adjustment for multiple tests.