Doxorubicin-mediated bone loss in breast cancer bone metastases is driven by an interplay between oxidative stress and induction of TGFβ

PLoS One. 2013 Oct 30;8(10):e78043. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0078043. eCollection 2013.

Abstract

Breast cancer patients, who are already at increased risk of developing bone metastases and osteolytic bone damage, are often treated with doxorubicin. Unfortunately, doxorubicin has been reported to induce damage to bone. Moreover, we have previously reported that doxorubicin treatment increases circulating levels of TGFβ in murine pre-clinical models. TGFβ has been implicated in promoting osteolytic bone damage, a consequence of increased osteoclast-mediated resorption and suppression of osteoblast differentiation. Therefore, we hypothesized that in a preclinical breast cancer bone metastasis model, administration of doxorubicin would accelerate bone loss in a TGFβ-mediated manner. Administration of doxorubicin to 4T1 tumor-bearing mice produced an eightfold increase in osteolytic lesion areas compared untreated tumor-bearing mice (P = 0.002) and an almost 50% decrease in trabecular bone volume expressed in BV/TV (P = 0.0005), both of which were rescued by anti-TGFβ antibody (1D11). Doxorubicin, which is a known inducer of oxidative stress, decreased osteoblast survival and differentiation, which was rescued by N-acetyl cysteine (NAC). Furthermore, doxorubicin treatment decreased Cu-ZnSOD (SOD1) expression and enzyme activity in vitro, and treatment with anti-TGFβ antibody was able to rescue both. In conclusion, a combination therapy using doxorubicin and anti-TGFβ antibody might be beneficial for preventing therapy-related bone loss in cancer patients.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antibodies / therapeutic use
  • Bone Neoplasms / metabolism*
  • Bone Neoplasms / secondary
  • Breast Neoplasms / complications*
  • Breast Neoplasms / metabolism*
  • Cell Differentiation / drug effects
  • Cell Survival / drug effects
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Doxorubicin / adverse effects*
  • Doxorubicin / therapeutic use*
  • Female
  • Mice
  • Osteoblasts / cytology
  • Osteoblasts / drug effects
  • Oxidative Stress / drug effects*
  • Transforming Growth Factor beta / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Transforming Growth Factor beta / metabolism*

Substances

  • Antibodies
  • Transforming Growth Factor beta
  • Doxorubicin

Grants and funding

This work was supported by Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health (BIRCWH) grant, American Physical Society funding and Academic Project Support (APS). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.