The aim of this report is to review the role of
CSF-1 and its receptor in
neoplasms of the breast and female reproductive tract. Expression and function of
CSF-1 and its receptor were studied in tumours of the human breast, ovary and endometrium.
CSF-1 and its receptor, initially implicated as essential to normal monocyte development and trophoblastic implantation, have been more recently shown to be expressed by
carcinomas of the breast, ovary and endometrium where activation of the receptor by
ligand produced either by the tumour cells or by stromal elements stimulates tumour cell invasion by a
urokinase-dependent mechanism.
Breast carcinomas express wild-type
CSF-1 receptors at levels comparable to those observed in trophoblast and monocytes. Ovarian and
endometrial carcinomas express significantly lower levels of wild-type, functional CSF-1Rs while ovarian
carcinomas also express unusual transcripts which diverge from the wild-type CSF-1R transcript in their 5' extracellular and other sequences. Tumour cell expression of CSF-1R is under the control of several
steroid hormones (
glucocorticoids and
progestins) and tumour cell
CSF-1 expression appears to be regulated by other
hormones, some of which are involved in normal lactogenic differentiation. In addition, tumour cells often produce
CSF-1 at such high levels that
CSF-1 spills into the extracellular fluid and circulation. Measurements of circulating levels of
CSF-1 have proved useful in patients with ovarian, endometrial and
breast carcinoma patients both for disease detection and monitoring of response to
breast carcinoma patients both for disease detection and monitoring of response to
therapy.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)