Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31236323›Full record

ArticleJournal of bone oncology2019

The bone metastasis niche in breast cancer-potential overlap with the haematopoietic stem cell niche

Gloria Allocca, Russell Hughes, Ning Wang, Hannah K Brown, Penelope D Ottewell, Nicola J Brown, Ingunn Holen

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of bone oncology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 48 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
48citing papers in PubMed
5.1field-weighted citation impact, top 4% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

48 citing papers in PubMed, 71 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
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  7. Cancer Cell Dormancy in the Bone Microenvironment.Current osteoporosis reports · 2025
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  11. Mouse Models of Breast Cancer Bone Metastasis.Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Gloria AlloccaDepartment of Oncology and Metabolism, Medical School, University of Sheffield, UK.
Russell HughesDepartment of Oncology and Metabolism, Medical School, University of Sheffield, UK.
Ning WangDepartment of Oncology and Metabolism, Medical School, University of Sheffield, UK.
Hannah K BrownDepartment of Oncology and Metabolism, Medical School, University of Sheffield, UK.
Penelope D OttewellDepartment of Oncology and Metabolism, Medical School, University of Sheffield, UK.
Nicola J BrownDepartment of Oncology and Metabolism, Medical School, University of Sheffield, UK.
Ingunn HolenDepartment of Oncology and Metabolism, Medical School, University of Sheffield, UK.
University of Sheffield · GB

Funding

Cancer Research UK 21082
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundBone metastasis is one of the most common complications of advanced breast cancer. During dissemination to bone, breast cancer cells locate in a putative 'metastatic niche', a microenvironment that regulates the colonisation, maintenance of tumour cell dormancy and subsequent tumour growth. The precise location and composition of the bone metastatic niche is not clearly defined. We have used

methodsEstrogen Receptor (ER) +ve and -ve breast cancer cells were labelled with membrane dyes Vybrant-DiD and Vybrant-CM-DiI and injected via different routes in BALBc/nude mice of different ages. Two-photon microscopy was used to detect and quantitate tumour cells and map their location within the bone microenvironment as well as their distance to the nearest bone surface compared to the nearest other tumour cell. To investigate whether the metastatic niche overlapped with the HSC niche, animals were pre-treated with the CXCR4 antagonist AMD3100 to mobilise hematopoietic (HSCs) prior to injection of breast cancer cells.

resultsBreast cancer cells displayed a characteristic pattern of homing in the long bones, with the majority of tumour cells seeded in the trabecular regions, regardless of the route of injection, cell-line characteristics (ER status) or animal age. Breast cancer cells located in close proximity to the nearest bone surface and the average distance between individual tumour cells was higher than their distance to bone. Mobilisation of HSCs from the niche to the circulation prior to injection of cell lines resulted in increased numbers of tumour cells disseminated in trabecular regions.

conclusionOur data provide evidence that homing of breast cancer cells is independent of their ER status and that the breast cancer bone metastasis niche is located within the trabecular region of bone, an area rich in osteoblasts and microvessels. The increased number of breast cancer cells homing to bone after mobilisation of HSCs suggests that the HSC and the bone metastasis niche overlap.

Indexed as

Animal modelsANOVA, Analysis of varianceBone metastasisBreast cancerCTC, Circulating tumour cellDAPI, 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindoleDTC, Disseminated tumour cellEDTA, Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acidER, Estrogen ReceptorFBS, Foetal bovine serumGFP, Green fluorescent proteinHematopoietic stem cellHSC, Hematopoietic stem cellIC, Intra cardiacIV, Intra venousLuc2, Luciferase2OVX, OvariectomyROI, Region of interestTSP-1, thrombospondin-1µCT, Microcomputed tomography

Identifiers

PMID31236323
PMCPMC6582079
OpenAlexW2950725795

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.