Erythropoietin Stimulates Tumor Growth via EphB4.

Journal Article (Journal Article)

While recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEpo) has been widely used to treat anemia in cancer patients, concerns about its adverse effects on patient survival have emerged. A lack of correlation between expression of the canonical EpoR and rhEpo's effects on cancer cells prompted us to consider the existence of an alternative Epo receptor. Here, we identified EphB4 as an Epo receptor that triggers downstream signaling via STAT3 and promotes rhEpo-induced tumor growth and progression. In human ovarian and breast cancer samples, expression of EphB4 rather than the canonical EpoR correlated with decreased disease-specific survival in rhEpo-treated patients. These results identify EphB4 as a critical mediator of erythropoietin-induced tumor progression and further provide clinically significant dimension to the biology of erythropoietin.

Full Text

Duke Authors

Cited Authors

  • Pradeep, S; Huang, J; Mora, EM; Nick, AM; Cho, MS; Wu, SY; Noh, K; Pecot, CV; Rupaimoole, R; Stein, MA; Brock, S; Wen, Y; Xiong, C; Gharpure, K; Hansen, JM; Nagaraja, AS; Previs, RA; Vivas-Mejia, P; Han, HD; Hu, W; Mangala, LS; Zand, B; Stagg, LJ; Ladbury, JE; Ozpolat, B; Alpay, SN; Nishimura, M; Stone, RL; Matsuo, K; Armaiz-Peña, GN; Dalton, HJ; Danes, C; Goodman, B; Rodriguez-Aguayo, C; Kruger, C; Schneider, A; Haghpeykar, S; Jaladurgam, P; Hung, M-C; Coleman, RL; Liu, J; Li, C; Urbauer, D; Lopez-Berestein, G; Jackson, DB; Sood, AK

Published Date

  • November 9, 2015

Published In

Volume / Issue

  • 28 / 5

Start / End Page

  • 610 - 622

PubMed ID

  • 26481148

Pubmed Central ID

  • PMC4643364

Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)

  • 1878-3686

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1016/j.ccell.2015.09.008

Language

  • eng

Conference Location

  • United States