Modelling hypersensitivity to trastuzumab defines biomarkers of response in HER2 positive breast cancer.

Background: Trastuzumab-based therapies are the therapeutic option for HER2 positive (HER2+) breast cancer. HER2 amplification is the only biomarker validated for trastuzumab-based therapies. However, a proportion of tumors become refractory during treatment course.

The Prognostic Relevance of the Proliferation Markers Ki-67 and Plk1 in Early-Stage Ovarian Cancer Patients With Serous, Low-Grade Carcinoma Based on mRNA and Protein Expression.

Since type and duration of an appropriate adjuvant chemotherapy in early-stage ovarian cancer (OC) are still being debated, novel markers for a better stratification of these patients are of utmost importance for the design of an improved chemotherapeutical strategy. In contrast to numerous cancer studies on cellular proliferation based on the immunohistochemistry-driven evaluation of protein expression, we compared mRNA and protein expression of two independent markers of cellular proliferation, Ki-67 and Plk1, in a large cohort of 243 early-stage OC and their relationship with clinicopathological features and survival. Based on marker expression we demonstrate that early-stage OC patients (stages I/II, low-grade, serous) with high expression (Ki-67, Plk1) had a significantly shorter progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) compared to patients with low expression (Ki-67, Plk1).