Alterations in Calcium Signaling Pathways in Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is the second most common cancer in women and the fifth cause contributing to death due to the cancer condition. It is essential to deeply understand the complex cellular mechanisms leading to this disease. There are multiple connections between calcium homeostasis alterations and breast cancer in the literature, but no consensus links the mechanism to the disease prognosis. Among the cells contributing to the breast cancer are the breast telocytes, which connect through gap junctions to other cells, including cancer cells and myoepithelial cells. Multiple proteins (i.e., voltage-gated calcium channels, transient receptor potential channels, STIM and Orai proteins, ether à go-go potassium channels, calcium-activated potassium channels, calcium-activated chloride channels, muscarinic acetylcholine receptors, etc.) coupled with calcium signaling pathways undergo functional and/or expression changes associated with breast cancer development and progression, and might represent promising pharmacological targets. Unraveling the mechanisms of altered calcium homeostasis in various breast cells due to the cancer condition might contribute to personalized therapeutic approaches

Extracellular Vesicles in Cancer

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) represent a generic term for all the secreted vesicles, which include exosomes, microvesicles, and apoptotic bodies. EVs are key partners in the intercellular communication and play an essential role in multiple physiological and pathological conditions. EVs are shuttles for cargo molecules, such as RNA (mRNA, microRNA, and other noncoding RNAs), DNA, proteins (receptors, transcription factors, enzymes, and extracellular matrix proteins), and lipids. In pathological states, including cancer, EVs might represent either useful biomarkers or can be used for therapeutic purposes. Moreover, in cancer, it was demonstrated that EVs play an essential role in drug resistance. Here, we review the role played by EVs in the most common forms of cancer, with a special focus on ovarian and breast cancers