Connection between metastatic breast cancer and megakaryocytes in bone marrow

Abstract

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in women. Approximately 13% of women will develop breast cancer in their lifetime and rates continue to rise. Megakaryocytes produce platelets and have primarily been shown to help the spread of breast tumors. When these tumor cells break off, they are more likely to spread to the bone more than other organs of the body. However, current literature suggests that megakaryocytes may help prevent the spread of breast cancer metastasis. To bridge this knowledge gap, we attempt to determine if breast cancer influences megakaryocytes ability to mature and grow. A key characteristic of this maturation is megakaryocytes ability to adhere. We believe there is ‘something’ being released from either osteoblasts or breast cancer cells that affects megakaryocyte proliferation or maturation. Conditioned media from an invasive breast cancer cell line (BT549) and osteoblast cell line (MC3T3-E1) were collected and used in proliferation and adhesion assays. Results show that megakaryocytes exposed to BT549 and double conditioned media have a significantly lower level of adhesion compared to control media. Despite there being a change in adhesion, proliferation remains relatively the same, suggesting that breast cancer releasates expel ‘something’ into their environment affecting megakaryocyte maturation. What’s causing this change remains unknown and future studies are currently being conducted to answer this question.