Multifunctional roles of insulin-like growth factor binding protein 5 in breast cancer

Mustafa Akkiprik¹ , Yumei Feng²^,3 , Huamin Wang⁴ , Kexin Chen⁵, Limei Hu⁴ , Aysegul Sahin⁴ , Savitri Krishnamurthy⁴ , Ayse Ozer¹ , Xishan Hao²^,3^,5 and Wei Zhang⁴

¹Department of Medical Biology, Marmara University, School of Medicine, 34668 Istanbul, Turkey

²Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, Tianjin 300060, PR China

³Breast Cancer Prevention and Treatment Key Lab of Ministry of Education, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, Tianjin 300060, PR China

⁴Department of Pathology, Unit 85, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Boulevard, Houston, TX 77030, USA

⁵Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, Tianjin 300060, PR China

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Breast Cancer Research 2008, 10:212doi:10.1186/bcr2116


Published:	11 August 2008

Abstract

The insulin-like growth factor axis, which has been shown to protect cells from apoptosis, plays an essential role in normal cell physiology and in cancer development. The family of insulin-like growth factor binding proteins (IGFBPs) has been shown to have a diverse spectrum of functions in cell growth, death, motility, and tissue remodeling. Among the six IGFBP family members, IGFBP-5 has recently been shown to play an important role in the biology of breast cancer, especially in breast cancer metastasis; however, the exact mechanisms of action remain obscure and sometimes paradoxical. An in-depth understanding of IGFBP-5 would shed light on its potential role as a target for breast cancer therapeutics.