TRIMming Down Hormone-Driven Cancers: The Biological Impact of TRIM Proteins on Tumor Development, Progression and Prognostication

The tripartite motif (TRIM) protein family is attracting increasing interest in oncology. As a protein family based on structure rather than function, a plethora of biological activities are described for TRIM proteins, which are implicated in multiple diseases including cancer. With hormone-driven cancers being among the leading causes of cancer-related death, TRIM proteins have been described to portrait tumor suppressive or oncogenic activities in these tumor types. This review describes the biological impact of TRIM proteins in relation to hormone receptor biology, as well as hormone-independent mechanisms that contribute to tumor cell biology in prostate, breast, ovarian and endometrial cancer. Furthermore, we point out common functions of TRIM proteins throughout the group of hormone-driven cancers. An improved understanding of the biological impact of TRIM proteins in cancer may pave the way for improved prognostication and novel therapeutics, ultimately improving cancer care for patients with hormone-driven cancers.

Genetic Contribution of Endometriosis to the Risk of Developing Hormone-Related Cancers

Endometriosis is a common gynecological disorder that has been associated with endometrial, breast and epithelial ovarian cancers in epidemiological studies. Since complex diseases are a result of multiple environmental and genetic factors, we hypothesized that the biological mechanism underlying their comorbidity might be explained, at least in part, by shared genetics. To assess their potential genetic relationship, we performed a two-sample mendelian randomization (2SMR) analysis on results from public genome-wide association studies (GWAS). This analysis confirmed previously reported genetic pleiotropy between endometriosis and endometrial cancer. We present robust evidence supporting a causal genetic association between endometriosis and ovarian cancer, particularly with the clear cell and endometrioid subtypes. Our study also identified genetic variants that could explain those associations, opening the door to further functional experiments. Overall, this work demonstrates the value of genomic analyses to support epidemiological data, and to identify targets of relevance in multiple disorders.