The neurokinin-1 receptor antagonist aprepitant is a promising candidate for the treatment of breast cancer

Muñoz,Miguel; González-Ortega,Ana; Salinas-Martín,Manuel   Vicente; Carranza,Andrés; Garcia-Recio,Susana; Almendro,Vanessa; Coveñas,Rafael

doi:10.3892/ijo.2014.2565

The neurokinin-1 receptor antagonist aprepitant is a promising candidate for the treatment of breast cancer

Authors:
- Miguel Muñoz
- Ana González-Ortega
- Manuel Vicente Salinas-Martín
- Andrés Carranza
- Susana Garcia-Recio
- Vanessa Almendro
- Rafael Coveñas
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Affiliations: Virgen del Rocío University Hospital, Research Laboratory on Neuropeptides, Sevilla, Spain, Deparment of Pathology, Juan Ramón Jiménez Hospital, Huelva, Spain, Department of Medical Oncology, Hospital Clinic, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain, Institute of Neurosciences of Castilla y León (INCYL), Laboratory of Neuroanatomy of the Peptidergic Systems (Lab. 14), Salamanca, Spain
Published online on: July 28, 2014 https://doi.org/10.3892/ijo.2014.2565
Pages: 1658-1672

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Abstract

The substance P (SP)/neurokinin (NK)-1 receptor system plays an important role in the development of cancer. No in-depth studies of the involvement of this system in breast cancer (BC) have been carried out, and the action exerted by the drug aprepitant on BC cells is currently unknown. We show the involvement of this system in human BC cell lines: i) these cells express mRNA for the NK-1 receptor; ii) they overexpress NK-1 receptors; iii) the NK-1 receptor is involved in their viability; iv) SP induces their proliferation; v) NK-1 receptor antagonists block SP-induced mitogen stimulation of these cells; vi) the specific antitumor action of such antagonists on these cells occurs through the NK-1 receptor; and vii) BC cell death is due to apoptosis. We also found NK-1 receptors and SP in all human BC samples studied. The NK-1 receptor may be a promising target in the treatment of BC and NK-1 receptor antagonists could be candidates as a new antitumor drug in the treatment of BC.

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