Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer and the leading cause of cancer death in women worldwide. The prognosis of the disease and the response to different types of treatment vary in different subgroups of this heterogeneous disease. The sub-groupings are based on the histological and molecular characteristics of the tumor, in particular the expression of the estrogen and progesterone receptors and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2. Hormone-dependent breast cancer (HDBC) is the most common type of breast cancer. Melanoma antigen (MAGE) expression is associated with poorer clinical prognosis and treatment resistance in many types of cancer, including breast cancer but their role in HDBC is unknown. The response to treatment can also be affected by the concomitant use of alternative treatments, such as cannabinoids, which are popular among patients. Cannabinoids interfere with the action of endogenous estrogens, but how they affect breast cancer treatment is still poorly understood. The aim of our work was to determine the expression of hormone receptors, cannabinoid receptors and MAGE proteins in HDBC cells by reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction, complement it with bioinformatics analysis and evaluate the response of HDBC cells to doxorubicin, cannabidiol, tamoxifen and estradiol treatment. Our studies determined the expression of several MAGE proteins and cannabinoid receptors in hormone-dependent breast cancer cell lines. We found that the cells HDBC respond better to chemotherapy than triple-negative breast cancer cells and as expected to respond better to hormone therapy. Interestingly, we found that the HDBC cell line MCF7 responded better to a combination of tamoxifen and cannabidiol hormone therapy, suggesting that HORD patients might benefit from alternative cannabidiol therapy as an adjunct to hormone therapy. However, further research is still needed.
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