Development and characterization of a monoclonal antibody directed against human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT).

Telomerase activity plays an important role in the two complementary processes of cellular immortalization and senescence. This enzyme is active in almost all tumors, but also in inflammatory and many normal proliferating cells. Therefore, the main limits of molecular determinations, such as telomeric repeat amplification protocol assay is that they are not able to discriminate between the enzymatic activity of tumor and normal cells.

Immunosuppression in renal cancer: differential expression of signal transduction molecules in tumor-infiltrating, near-tumor tissue, and peripheral blood lymphocytes.

Alterations in the expression of signal activation molecules, such as the T-cell receptor (TCR) zeta and epsilon chains and p56lck tyrosine kinase, are described in tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL). The aim of this study was to ascertain if such molecules were present in near-tumor-tissue lymphocytes (NTTL) and peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL), as well as TIL, of renal cell carcinoma patients, to verify whether this tumor induces immunosuppression only locally or affects distant lymphocytes as well. Tissue from the tumor and from healthy nearby sites, as well as blood samples, were obtained from 27 consecutive patients who had undergone radical nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma.

Basic fibroblast growth factor and vascular endothelial growth factor serum levels in breast cancer patients and healthy women: useful as diagnostic tools?

Introduction: The aim of the present study was to analyze the relationship between the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) in breast cancer cells and the corresponding serum levels in individual patients. The study also evaluated the potential of serum levels of the two growth factors as diagnostic markers in a case-control study.

Methods: VEGF expression and bFGF expression were determined in 62 and 63 tumor samples, respectively.

HER-2 expression and cell proliferation: prognostic markers in patients with node-negative breast cancer.

Purpose: We analyzed the clinical relevance of HER-2 expression, widely investigated in breast cancer but with contradictory results, in the largest case series of node-negative breast cancer patients investigated to date.

Patients And Methods: The pure prognostic value of HER-2 expression was investigated in 529 patients treated with locoregional therapy alone until early relapse. Proliferative activity was evaluated as [3H]thymidine labeling index and HER-2 expression by immunohistochemistry.

Adjuvant immunotherapy with tumor infiltrating lymphocytes and interleukin-2 in patients with resected stage III and IV melanoma.

Adoptive immunotherapy with tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) and interleukin (IL)-2 is reasonably effective in the treatment of patients with advanced melanoma. However, theoretically it should be of greater benefit as adjuvant therapy, especially in high-risk stages (resected stages III and IV). In a preliminary study, 25 patients (aged 23-72 years) with stage III-IV melanoma who underwent resection of metachronous metastases were reinfused with TIL cultivated and expanded in vitro with IL-2 from surgically removed metastases.

In vitro schedule-dependent interaction between docetaxel and gemcitabine in human gastric cancer cell lines.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the activity of clinically used drugs and to define the most effective treatment scheme in human gastric cancer cell lines.

Experimental Design: Cytotoxic activity was evaluated by sulforhodamine B assay, potential clinical activity was estimated by relative antitumor activity, and the type of drug interaction was assessed using the method of Chou and Talalay. Cell cycle perturbations and apoptosis were evaluated by flow cytometry, mitotic index by microscopic analysis, bax, bcl-2, and p53 by immunohistochemistry, and cyclin B expression by Western blot.

Vascular endothelial growth factor and prognosis in patients with node-negative breast cancer.

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) has emerged as one of the most important angiogenic growth factors from experimental in vitro and in vivo studies. In the present study, we investigated the relationship between VEGF expression and microvessel density (MVD) and defined their prognostic relevance on a series of 242 patients with node-negative breast cancer, using immunohistochemical methods. In parallel, estrogen and progesterone receptors were quantitatively assessed using the dextran-charcoal technique and cell proliferation was evaluated as S-phase cell fraction according to (3)H-thymidine-labeling index (TLI).

In Vitro schedule-dependent interactions between the multitargeted antifolate LY231514 and gemcitabine in human colon adenocarcinoma cell lines.

Purpose: Multitargeted antifolate (MTA) and gemcitabine (GEM) have shown preclinical and clinical activity in tumor histotypes such as colon, renal, small and non-small cell lung cancers, hepatomas and carcinoid tumors. In our study, we investigated the cytotoxic activity of MTA alone or in combination with GEM using different exposure schedules in three different colon cancer cell lines (LoVo, WiDr, and LRWZ).

Experimental Design: Cytotoxic activity was evaluated by sulforhodamine B assay, cell cycle perturbations and apoptosis were evaluated by flow cytometry, and thymidylate synthase expression was evaluated by immunohistochemical method.

p27/kip1 expression in normal epithelium, benign and neoplastic breast lesions.

The development of cancer in the breast and in other sites is a complex process requiring a number of different genetic and epigenetic alterations. The accumulation of the genetic changes is thought to underlie the progression from precancerous lesions to carcinomas. The expression of p27/kip1 protein, a cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor, was investigated by immunohistochemistry in normal epithelial specimens, benign alterations, and malignant lesions of the breast.