Strategies for antibody-mediated cancer immunotherapy, such as active immunization with virus-like particle (VLP)-based vaccines, are gaining increasing attention. »
01/15/11

Resistance to platinum and taxane based chemotherapy remains a major clinical impediment to effective management of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). To gain insights into resistance mechanisms, we compared gene and confirmed expression patterns of novel EOC cell lines selected for paclitaxel and carboplatin resistance. »
03/14/11

The inhibition of heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) is an emerging strategy in cancer therapy. Unfortunately, no specific inhibitors are clinically available. By yeast two-hybrid screening, we have identified multiple peptide aptamers that bind HSP70. »
01/15/11

>The reported frequencies of germline mutations in the melanoma candidate genes are low in patients with uveal melanoma (UM). However, the number of families studied is limited and the majority of the published reports used low-sensitivity techniques for mutational screening. »
03/15/11

The androgen regulated transmembrane serine protease (TMPRSS2) and ETS transcription factor (ERG) gene fusion is a strong prognostic factor for disease recurrence following prostatectomy. Expression of TMPRSS2/ETS-related gene (ERG) fusion gene transcripts is linked with tumor proliferation, invasion, and an aggressive phenotype. The aim of this study was to define the effect of TMPRSS2/ERG fusion gene expression on chemo- and radiosensitivity in prostate tumor cell lines. »
03/10/11

The adaptor protein PINCH is overexpressed in the stroma of several types of cancer, and is an independent prognostic marker in colorectal cancer. In this study we further investigate the relationship of PINCH and survival regarding the response to chemotherapy in colorectal cancer. »
03/22/11

DNA methylation in the SHOX2 locus was previously used to reliably detect lung cancer in a group of critical controls, including 'cytologically negative' samples with no visible tumor cell content, at a high specificity based on the analysis of bronchial lavage samples. This study aimed to investigate, if the methylation correlates with SHOX2 gene expression and/or copy number alterations. An amplification of the SHOX2 gene locus together with the observed tumor-specific hypermethylation might explain the good performance of this marker in bronchial lavage samples. »
03/22/11

In this work, we have conducted a case-control study in order to assess the effect of tobacco and three genetic polymorphisms in XPC, ERCC2 and ERCC5 genes (rs2228001, rs13181 and rs17655) in bladder cancer development in Tunisia. We have also tried to evaluate whether these variants affect the bladder tumor stage and grade. »
03/22/11

The adhesion protein junctional adhesion molecule-A (JAM-A) regulates epithelial cell morphology and migration; and its over-expression has recently been linked with increased risk of metastasis in breast cancer patients. As cell migration is an early requirement for tumour metastasis, we sought to identify the JAM-A signalling events regulating migration in breast cancer cells. »
03/23/11

Oesophageal cancer is a highly aggressive tumour entity with at present poor prognosis. Therefore, novel treatment options are urgently needed. Hyaluronan (HA) is a polysaccharide present in the matrix of human oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Importantly, in vitro ESCC cells critically depend on HA synthesis to maintain the proliferative phenotype. The aim of the present study is (1) to study HA-synthase (HAS) expression and regulation in human ESCC, and (2) to translate the in vitro results into a mouse xenograft model of human ESCC to study the effects of systemic versus tumour targeted HAS inhibition on proliferation and distribution of tumour-bound and stromal hyaluronan. »
03/23/11