Mammary stem cell number as a determinate of breast cancer risk

Comment onCorrelation of umbilical cord blood hormones and growth factors with stem cell potential: implications for the prenatal origin of breast cancer hypothesis. Savarese TM, Strohsnitter WC, Low HP, Liu Q, Baik I, Okulicz W, Chelmow DP, Lagiou P, Quesenberry PJ, Noller KL, Hsieh CC. Breast Cancer Res. 2007;9(3):R29. doi: 10.1186/bcr1674. PMID: 17501995 Free PMC article.International audienceThe 'cancer stem cell hypothesis' posits that cancers, including breast cancer, arise in tissue stem or progenitor cells. If this is the case, then it follows that the risk for developing breast cancer may be determined in part by the number of breast stem/progenitor cells that can serve as targets for transformation. Stem cell number may be set during critical windows of development, including in utero, adolescence, and pregnancy. The growth hormone/insulin-like growth factor-1 axis may play an important role in regulating breast stem cell number during these developmental windows, suggesting an important link between this signaling pathway and breast cancer risk