Past studies show that optimism and social support are associated with better adjustment following breast cancer treatment. Most studies have examined these relationships in predominantly non-Hispanic White samples. The present study included 77 African American women treated for nonmetastatic breast cancer.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: IFN-alpha is administered to melanoma patients and its endogenous production is essential for immune-mediated tumor recognition. We hypothesized that a reduced capacity for signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) 1 activation allows melanoma cells to evade the direct actions of IFN-alpha.
Experimental Design: Tyr(701)-phosphorylated STAT1 (P-STAT1) was measured by flow cytometry in IFN-alpha-stimulated human melanoma cell lines, melanoma cells derived from patient tumors, and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC).
Background: We hypothesized that interferon alpha (IFN-alpha) and unmethylated cytosine-phosphothioate-guanine (CpG)-rich oligodexoynucleotides (CpG ODNs) would elicit potent antitumor activity due to the ability of this treatment combination to activate complimentary signal transduction intermediates.
Methods: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells treated with CpG ODNs, IFN-alpha, or both agents combined were evaluated for cytotoxicity against human melanoma cells, Jak-STAT signal transduction by flow cytometry, and ISG-15 gene expression by real-time polymerase chain reaction. The effects of CpG ODNs and IFN-alpha were evaluated in murine models of melanoma in wild-type, IFN-gamma-deficient, and STAT1-deficient mice.
Background: Regulation of gene expression by signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT1) within host tissues mediates the antitumor effects of interferon alfa (IFN alpha). We used a novel flow cytometric assay to examine phosphorylation-mediated activation of STAT1 within immune effector cell subsets following in vitro or in vivo IFN alpha treatments.
Methods: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) isolated from healthy donors (n = 17) or melanoma patients (n = 19) were treated in vitro with interferon alfa-2b (IFN alpha-2b) or phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) and subjected to multiparametric flow cytometry to measure the levels of phosphorylated STAT1 (P-STAT1) within immune cell subsets.
IFN-alpha 2b (IFN-alpha) has been used to treat patients with metastatic malignant melanoma and patients rendered disease-free via surgery but at high risk for recurrence. We hypothesized that IL-12 pretreatments would result in endogenous IFN-gamma production, and that this, in turn, would up-regulate levels of Janus kinase-STAT signaling intermediates and lead to increased expression of genes regulated by IFN-alpha. Treatment of PBMCs with IL-12 stimulated a significant and dose-dependent production of IFN-gamma.
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