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  • Opinion
  • Published:

Breast and prostate cancer: more similar than different

Abstract

Breast cancer and prostate cancer are the two most common invasive cancers in women and men, respectively. Although these cancers arise in organs that are different in terms of anatomy and physiological function both organs require gonadal steroids for their development, and tumours that arise from them are typically hormone-dependent and have remarkable underlying biological similarities. Many of the recent advances in understanding the pathophysiology of breast and prostate cancers have paved the way for new treatment strategies. In this Opinion article we discuss some key issues common to breast and prostate cancer and how new insights into these cancers could improve patient outcomes.

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Figure 1: Common essential pathways of steroid biosynthesis in the breast and prostate.
Figure 2: Hormone interactions in breast and prostate epithelial cells.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank C. Nelson, T. Hickey and L. Young for their insightful comments during the preparation of this article. This work was funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (G.P.R. 545931, S.N.B. and W.D.T. 250373); the Susan G. Komen Foundation (W.D.T. ECTR111806); the National Breast Cancer Foundation (W.D.T. 399182); the US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (G.P.R. PC073444, S.N.B., W.D.T. and DAMD 17-03-1-0618) and Prostate Cancer Foundation Australia (G.P.R. PG6). I.D.D. is supported in part by a Victorian Cancer Agency Clinical Researcher Fellowship and is an honorary NHMRC Practitioner Fellow.

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ClinicalTrials.gov

NCT00468715

NCT00755885

National Cancer Institute Drug Dictionary

abiraterone acetate

raloxifene

tamoxifen

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Risbridger, G., Davis, I., Birrell, S. et al. Breast and prostate cancer: more similar than different. Nat Rev Cancer 10, 205–212 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrc2795

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