Development and testing of cell lines for the purpose of triple negative breast cancer research

Reference number

IRP – 2018/01-10 

Financing, programme, call

Financed by the University Medical center Maribor (UKC MB) 

Partnering organisations 

UKC Maribor

Coordination

Iztok Takač (project manager), Uroš Maver (research group leader at the Medical faculty), Rajko Kavalar (research group leader at the Department of pathology UKC Maribor)

Duration 

2018 – 2021 (3 leta) 

Back to the list

Brief description

The second most common cancer worldwide is breast cancer. This type of cancer is ranked first in incidence in women living either in developed or developing countries. It is ranked as the fifth common cause of cancer death (627 000 deaths/per year; year 2020). The term invasive breast carcinoma (IBC) refers to a large heterogeneous group of malignant epithelial neoplasms of the of the breast.

Due to treatment purposes, distinct outcomes, and responses to therapy, all IBCs are grouped into the following subtypes: 1) ER-positive, HER2-negative; 2) ER-positive, HER2-positive; 3) ER-negative, HER2-positive; 4) ER-negative, HER2-negative. Approximately 15% of patients have triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). It is a very heterogenous subtype with bad prognosis and various characteristics. Consequently, treatment is difficult, and options are limited. To advance scientific research, potentially discover statistically significant biomolecular factors and stimulate the development of potential treatment option, adequate conditions have to be met. One of the first steps are high quality cell lines. The study has been conceptualised in a stepwise approach in which every step will contribute to the following step and finally lead the development of an authentic and functional in vitro breast cancer model.

Goals

  • Development of a successful isolation protocol for triple negative breast cancer.
  • Isolation and characterisation of triple negative breast cancer cells derived from patient tissue.
  • Acquisition of commercial standardised cell lines, comparative analysis and adequate quality for comparative analysis with our own cell lines. Potential additional steps include viability testing.

Published articles of our group:

REVIEW ARTICLES: 

  1. SKOK, Kristijan, GRADIŠNIK, Lidija, MAVER, Uroš, KOZAR, Nejc, SOBOČAN, Monika, TAKAČ, Iztok, ARKO, Darja, KAVALAR, Rajko. Gynaecological cancers and their cell lines. Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine. Apr. 2021, vol. 25, issue 8, str. 3680-3698, ilustr. ISSN 1582-4934. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jcmm.16397, https://doi.org/10.1111/jcmm.16397, DOI: 10.1111/jcmm.16397. [COBISS.SI-ID 54283267], [JCR, SNIP, WoS, Scopus]
  2. SKOK, Kristijan, MAVER, Uroš, GRADIŠNIK, Lidija, KAVALAR, Rajko, SOBOČAN, Monika, TAKAČ, Iztok. Humane celične linije raka dojk = Human breast cancer cell lines. Zdravniški vestnik : glasilo Slovenskega zdravniškega društva. [Tiskana izd.]. 2019, letn. 88, št. 9/10, str. 427-443, d79-d81, ilustr. ISSN 1318-0347. https://vestnik.szd.si/index.php/ZdravVest/article/view/2842/2453, DOI: 10.6016/ZdravVestn.2842. [COBISS.SI-ID 6814271]

BRIEF REPORT:

  1. SKOK, Kristijan, GRADIŠNIK, Lidija, ČELEŠNIK, Helena Sabina, POTOČNIK, Uroš, KAVALAR, Rajko, TAKAČ, Iztok, MAVER, Uroš. Isolation and characterization of the first Slovenian human triple-negative breast cancer cell line. The breast journal. [Online ed.]. Feb. 2020, vol. 26, iss. 2, str. 328-330, ilustr. ISSN 1524-4741. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/tbj.13695, DOI: 10.1111/tbj.13695. [COBISS.SI-ID 6854207] 

SCIENTIFIC ARTICLE:

  1. SKOK, Kristijan, TAKAČ, Iztok, KAVALAR, Rajko, GRADIŠNIK, Lidija, MILOJEVIĆ, Marko, MAVER, Uroš. Simple protocol for effective preparation of breast cancer cell cultures for possible 3D tumor modeling. EPNOE newsletter. Sep. 2019, no. 51, str. 7-8, ilustrhttps://www.epnoe.eu/sites/default/files/51st%20EPNOE%20Newsletter-September%202019_1.pdf. [COBISS.SI-ID 6773567] 
Skip to content