HER2 is a promising target for immunotherapeutic interventions with T cell-based approaches since it is amplified and overexpressed in 20-30% of breast cancers. However, several previous studies including ours showed that HER2-overexpressing tumors may escape cytotoxic T lymphocyte-mediated lysis by downregulating MHC Class I and components of the antigen-processing machinery. The aims of the p...

MicroRNA array analysis revealed that miR-217 expression was decreased in anti-cancer drug-resistant Malme3MR cancer cells. CAGE, a cancer/testis antigen, was predicted as a target of miR-217. Luciferase activity and ChIP assays revealed a negative feedback relationship between CAGE and miR-217. miR-217 and CAGE oppositely regulated the response to anti-cancer drugs such as taxol, gefitinib and...

Mounting an immune response sufficient to eradicate a tumor is the goal of modern immunotherapy. Single agent therapies with checkpoint inhibitors or costimulatory molecule agonists are effective only for a small portion of all treated patients. Combined therapy, e.g., CTLA-4 and PD-1 checkpoint blockade, is a more effective treatment modality, but in preclinical studies OX40 agonism with CTLA-...

The highly immunogenic human tumor antigen NY-ESO-1 (ESO) is a target of choice for anti-cancer immune therapy. In this study, we assessed spontaneous antibody (Ab) responses to ESO in a large cohort of patients with primary breast cancer (BC) and addressed the correlation between the presence of anti-ESO Ab, the expression of ESO in the tumors and their characteristics. We found detectable Ab ...

While clinical results indicate the benefit of HER2-targeted treatment, the fact remains that this therapy administered according to current FDA/EMEA-approved protocols can only cure about 50% of patients with HER2-positive breast carcinoma (1). Recently developed technologies in multi-omics analysis, together with a growing understanding of prognosis and predictive biomarkers, have provided si...

As a result of the availability and clinical efficacy of trastuzumab (Herceptin), clinicians are now faced with a dilemma regarding the accurate identification of patients with HER2 overexpression. In the October 2002 issue of ONCOLOGY, Monica Fornier and colleagues critically reviewed the methodologies currently available for HER2 testing in their article, "HER2 Testing and Correlation With Ef...

PURPOSE Surgical resection of pulmonary metastases is now a clinically accepted cancer therapy but its success depends on the accurate localization and removal of all tumor foci. To enhance the detection of pulmonary metastases during surgery, we developed an i.v. administered optical probe that uses a monoclonal antibody, Herceptin (trastuzumab), conjugated to a fluorophore, rhodamine green (R...

PURPOSE Human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expression have been associated with disease progression in patients with prostate cancer. We tested the hypothesis that plasma levels of HER2 and/or EGFR are associated with prostate cancer stage and prognosis in patients with clinically localized disease. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN We measured preop...

Overexpression of the HER2/Neu protooncogene has been linked to the progression of breast cancer. Here we demonstrate that the growth of prostate cancer LNCaP cells can also be increased by the stable transfection of HER2/Neu. Using AG879, a HER2/Neu inhibitor, and PD98059, a MAP kinase inhibitor, as well as MAP kinase phosphatase-1 (MPK-1), in the transfection assay, we found that HER2/Neu cou...

Breast cancer is by far the most common cancer in women worldwide and the main cause of cancer-related mortality. Breast cancer accounts for 38% of all malignancies among Egyptian women. The aim of our study was to evaluate the serum levels of human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2), matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), nitric oxide (NO), and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) in breast ca...