Relationship: 1907
Title
Upstream event
Increase, Cell Proliferation (Epithelial Cells)Downstream event
Increase, Mutations
Key Event Relationship Overview
AOPs Referencing Relationship
| AOP Name | Adjacency | Weight of Evidence | Quantitative Understanding |
|---|---|---|---|
| Increased reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) leading to increased risk of breast cancer | adjacent | High | Not Specified |
| Increased DNA damage leading to increased risk of breast cancer | adjacent | Not Specified | Not Specified |
Taxonomic Applicability
Sex Applicability
Life Stage Applicability
Key Event Relationship Description
Proliferation increases the likelihood that existing DNA damage will result in mutation and creates new mutations through errors in replication.
Evidence Supporting this KER
Biological Plausibility
It is generally accepted that proliferation increases the risk of mutation and cancer (Preston-Martin, Pike et al. 1990). DNA damage that has not been completely or correctly repaired when a cell undergoes mitosis can be fixed in the genome permanently as a mutation, to be propagated to future daughter cells. Incomplete DNA repair can also cause additional DNA damage when encountered by replicative forks. Therefore, in the presence of any DNA damage (and there is a background rate of damage in addition to any other genotoxic stimuli) mutations will increase with cell division (Kiraly, Gong et al. 2015). Mutation-prone double strand breaks can also arise from replicative stress in hyperplastic cells including hyperplasia arising from excess growth factor stimulation (Gorgoulis, Vassiliou et al. 2005). This relationship between proliferation and mutation is thought to drive a significant portion of the risk of cancer from estrogen exposure since breast cells proliferate in response to estrogen or estrogen plus progesterone and risk increases with cumulative estrogen exposure (Preston-Martin, Pike et al. 1990).
Not all proliferating tissue shows replicative stress and DSBs - tissue with a naturally high proliferative index like colon cells don’t show any sign of damage (Halazonetis, Gorgoulis et al. 2008). Additional factors are therefore required beyond replication for damage and mutation from replicative stress, but replication is essential for the expression of these factors.