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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2009 Oct 25.
Published in final edited form as: J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 2007 May 24;106(1-5):81–96. doi: 10.1016/j.jsbmb.2007.05.027

Figure 6. Detail of epithelial-stromal interaction via estrogen and cytokines in breast cancer.

Figure 6

Estradiol (E2) increases secretion of antiadipogenic cytokines (IL-11) from malignant epithelial cells and upregulates their antiadipogenic-type receptors (TNF-receptor type 1, TNFR1) in undifferentiated fibroblasts. These redundant mechanisms give rise to accumulation of undifferentiated fibroblasts around malignant epithelial cells (desmoplastic reaction), which express aromatase and form E2.