Technical note: Hapten synthesis, antibody production and development of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for detection of the natural steroidal alkaloid Dendrogenin A.

We have recently discovered the existence of 5α-Hydroxy-6β-[2-(1H-imidazol-4-yl)ethylamino]cholestan-3β-ol, called Dendrogenin A (DDA), as the first endogenous steroidal alkaloid ever described in mammals. We found that the DDA content of tumors and cancer cell lines was low or absent compared with normal cells showing that a deregulation in DDA biosynthesis was associated with cancer and therefore suggesting that DDA could represent a metabolomic cancer biomarker. This prompted us to produce antibodies that selectively recognize DDA.

Serum protein signature may improve detection of ductal carcinoma in situ of the breast.

Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) of the breast is part of a spectrum of preinvasive lesions that originate within normal breast tissue and progress to invasive breast cancer. The detection of DCIS is important for the reduction of mortality from breast cancer, but the diagnosis of preinvasive breast tumors is hampered by the lack of an adequate detection method. To identify the changes in protein expression during the initial stage of tumorigenesis and to identify the presence of new DCIS markers, we analysed serum from 60 patients with breast cancer and 60 normal controls using mass spectrometry.

In vivo restoration of RhoB expression leads to ovarian tumor regression.

Ovarian cancers are very aggressive cancers most often diagnosed when metastasis has already occurred in the entire peritoneal cavity. Ovarian adenocarcinoma cells present an undetectable level of RhoB GTPase. Using preclinical ovarian cancer models, we aimed to evaluate the potential use of RhoB cDNA as a tumor suppressor gene in gene therapy.

In vivo and in vitro antitumor activity of oxaliplatin in combination with cetuximab in human colorectal tumor cell lines expressing different level of EGFR.

This study aimed to assess the effect of cetuximab (C225, Erbitux, a chimeric anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) monoclonal antibody) in combination with oxaliplatin in vitro and in vivo on four colon cancer cell lines (HCT-8; HT-29, SW620, HCT-116) expressing different levels of EGFR. In vitro, cetuximab combined with oxaliplatin significantly decreased the IC50 values of oxaliplatin in HCT-8 (EGF-R moderate) and HT-29 (EGF-R weak) cell lines, while SW620 (EGF-R negative) and HCT-116 (EGFR strong) cell lines remained unresponsive. This combination was synergistic in HCT-8 and HT-29 cell lines while cetuximab induced no major modification of the IC50 of oxaliplatin in HCT-116 or SW620 cell lines.

Selective inhibition of HER2 inhibits AKT signal transduction and prolongs disease-free survival in a micrometastasis model of ovarian carcinoma.

Although first-line chemotherapy induces complete clinical remission in many cases of epithelial ovarian cancer, relapse usually occurs 18-28 months from diagnosis owing to micrometastases. The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of trastuzumab on disease-free and overall survival in a specially designed murine model of ovarian cancer (OVCAR-3), which mimicked the natural history of human micrometastatic disease. Trastuzumab can cure the mice if started soon after induction chemotherapy.