Prophylactic vaccination targeting ERBB3 decreases polyp burden in a mouse model of human colorectal cancer.

Prophylactic vaccination is typically utilized for the prevention of communicable diseases such as measles and influenza but, with the exception of vaccines to prevent cervical cancer, is not widely used as a means of preventing or reducing the incidence of cancer. Here, we utilize a peptide-based immunotherapeutic approach targeting ERBB3, a pseudo-kinase member of the EGFR/ERBB family of receptor tyrosine kinases, as a means of preventing occurrence of colon polyps. Administration of the peptide resulted in a significant decrease in the development of intestinal polyps in C57BL/6J- mice, a model of familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP).

Hepatitis C virus seroprevalence in the general female population of 9 countries in Europe, Asia and Africa.

Background: New oral treatments with very high cure rates have the potential to revolutionize global management of hepatitis C virus (HCV), but population-based data on HCV infection are missing in many low and middle-income countries (LMIC).

Methods: Between 2004 and 2009, dried blood spots were collected from age-stratified female population samples of 9 countries: China, Mongolia, Poland, Guinea, Nepal, Pakistan, Algeria, Georgia and Iran. HCV antibodies were detected by a multiplex serology assay using bead-based technology.

Human papillomavirus infection in women with and without cervical cancer in Nepal.

Objectives: Cervical cancer is the most common malignancy among Nepalese women. Rational prevention measures are informed by epidemiological data on human papillomavirus (HPV) prevalence.

Methods: Cervical specimens were obtained from 932 married women aged 15-59 years from the general population of Bharatpur, Nepal, as well as from 61 locally diagnosed invasive cervical cancers (ICC).