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. 2024 Feb 23;16(5):911. doi: 10.3390/cancers16050911

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© 2024 by the authors.

Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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Vicious cycle of bone metastasis. Breast cancer cells within the bone microenvironment secrete a number of factors, including sonic hedgehog (SHH), which can act on the osteoblasts or pre-osteoclasts and mature osteoclasts of the bone. Lysis of the bone by the osteoclasts results in breakdown of the bone matrix and the release of growth factors and calcium, which stimulate cancer cell replication and survival. Prolactin (PRL) binds to the PRL receptor (PRLR) on breast cancer cells, leading to PRL-mediated signaling that stimulates SHH production and other unidentified factors. Created with BioRender.com.