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REVIEW article

Front. Oncol.
Sec. Breast Cancer
Volume 14 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2024.1448089
This article is part of the Research Topic Advances of Brain Metastasis in Breast Cancer View all 3 articles

Lipocalin-2 Promotes Breast Cancer Brain Metastasis by enhancing Tumor Invasion and Modulating brain microenvironment

Provisionally accepted
Yang Zhao Yang Zhao 1Xiaogen Tang Xiaogen Tang 1Tingting Lei Tingting Lei 1Dongwei Fu Dongwei Fu 2*Hongyi Zhang Hongyi Zhang 1*
  • 1 Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
  • 2 Shunde Hospital Affiliated to Jinan University, Foshan, Guangdong Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Breast cancer is the leading cancer diagnosed in women globally, with brain metastasis emerging as a major cause of death, particularly in human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 positive and triplenegative breast cancer subtypes. Comprehensive understanding of the molecular foundations of central nervous system metastases is imperative for the evolution of efficacious treatment strategies. Lipocalin-2 (LCN2), a secreted iron transport protein with multiple functions, has been linked to the progression of breast cancer brain metastasis (BCBM). In primary tumors, LCN2 promotes the proliferation and angiogenesis of breast cancer cells, triggers the epithelial-mesenchymal transition, interacts with matrix metalloproteinase-9, thereby facilitating the reorganization of the extracellular matrix and enhancing cancer cell invasion and migration. In brain microenvironment, LCN2 undermines the blood-brain barrier and facilitates tumor seeding in the brain by modulating the behavior of key cellular components. In summary, this review meticulously examines the fuel role of LCN2 in BCBM cascade, and investigates the potential mechanisms involved. It highlights the potential of LCN2 as both a therapeutic target and biomarker, indicating that interventions targeting LCN2 may offer improved outcomes for patients afflicted with BCBM.

    Keywords: Lipocalin-2, Breast cancer brain metastasis, Blood-Brain Barrier, Brain microenvironment, extracellular matrix (ECM

    Received: 13 Jun 2024; Accepted: 29 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Zhao, Tang, Lei, Fu and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Dongwei Fu, Shunde Hospital Affiliated to Jinan University, Foshan, Guangdong Province, China
    Hongyi Zhang, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.