Histamine receptor 2 (H2) antagonists are widely used clinically for the control of gastrointestinal symptoms, but also impact immune function. They have been reported to reduce tumor growth in established colon and lung cancer models. Histamine has also been reported to modify populations of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs). We have examined the impact of the widely used H2 antagonist ...

One of the leading causes of death for women is metastatic breast cancer. Because most animal tumors do not accurately model clinical metastatic disease, the development of effective therapies has progressed slowly. In this study, we establish the poorly immunogenic mouse 4T1 mammary carcinoma as a postsurgical animal model. 4T1 growth characteristics parallel highly invasive human metastatic m...

Abstract Purpose Gene therapy is a promising and novel therapeutic strategy for many mutated gene-associated diseases, including breast cancer. However, it poses significant biological drawbacks such as rapid clearance from the circulatory system low cellular uptake of exogenously delivered functional nucleic acids. The development efficient biocompatible carriers genetic materials has been ext...

In the current study, we tested the central hypothesis that exposure to Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Delta9-THC), the major psychoactive component in marijuana, can lead to enhanced growth of tumors that express low to undetectable levels of cannabinoid receptors by specifically suppressing the antitumor immune response. We demonstrated that the human breast cancer cell lines MCF-7 and MDA-MB-...

Degradation of the extracellular matrix (ECM) plays a critical role in the formation of tumors and metastasis and has been found to correlate with the aggressiveness of tumor growth and invasiveness of cancer. Ascorbic acid, which is known to be essential for the structural integrity of the intercellular matrix, is not produced by humans and must ...

We investigated anti-angiogenic/vascular targeting therapy of established tumors in immunocompetent mice using an anti-human endoglin (EDG; CD105) monoclonal antibody (mAb) SN6j. SN6j weakly cross-reacted with murine endothelial cells but reacted neither with colon-26 murine colon carcinoma cells nor with 4T1 murine mammary carcinoma cells. Systemic administration of naked (unconjugated) SN6j s...

The cytotoxic substance of A. chinense saponins (ACSs) was isolated using ethanol extraction and purified with the D101 macroporous adsorption resin approach. We investigated the anticancer activity of ACSs in the B16 melanoma and 4T1 breast carcinoma cell lines. Methylthioninium chloride and hematoxylin-eosin staining with Giemsa dyestuff were used when the cells were treated with ACSs. The re...

The nonimmunogenic 4T1 murine mammary carcinoma model and a model surrogate tumor antigen (sTA) were employed to explore the possibility of inducing tumor-specific immunity through active immunization in the absence of defined tumor-associated antigens. Immunization of naive mice with protein-based sTA resulted in protection from s.c. challenge, with 4T1 modified to express the sTA (4T1.sTA), o...

Thomsen-Friedenreich antigen (TF-Ag) is expressed in many carcinomas, including those of the breast, colon, bladder, and prostate. TF-Ag is important in adhesion and metastasis and as a potential immunotherapy target. We hypothesized that passive transfer of JAA-F11, an anti-TF-Ag monoclonal antibody, may create a survival advantage for patients with TF-Ag-expressing tumors by cytotoxicity, blo...

Sonodynamic therapy (SDT) has become a new modality for cancer therapy through activating certain chemical sensitizers by ultrasound (US). Discovery and development of novel sonosensitizers are attracting extensive attentions. Here, we introduce IR-780 iodide, a lipophilic heptamethine dye with a peak optical absorption of 780 nm wavelength, which can function as SDT agents for breast cancer tr...