Mechanism of action of the trastuzumab biosimilar CT-P6.

: Therapeutic monoclonal antibody biosimilars are expected to help reduce the sizeable economic burden of targeted treatments. Trastuzumab (Herceptin®), a recombinant humanized monoclonal antibody that binds to the extracellular domain of HER2, is approved for use in HER2-overexpressing breast cancer (in both the adjuvant and metastatic settings) and HER2-positive gastric cancer. CT-P6 (Herzuma®) is a biosimilar of trastuzumab, designed to bind with high affinity and specificity to the same HER2 epitope as the reference product.

Effect of epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitor alone and in combination with cisplatin on growth of vulvar cancer cells.

A recent study reported on the efficacy of the EGFR inhibitor on locally advanced vulvar cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of an EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor (AG1478) alone and in combination with cisplatin on vulvar cancer cells (A431 and SW962). We detected overexpression of EGFR in A431 cells and low expression in SW962 cells.

Influences of cyclooxygenase-1 and -2 expression on the radiosensitivities of human cervical cancer cell lines.

We utilized three cervical cancer cell lines (HeLa, HT-3, and C33A) and clonogenic assays to determine whether cyclooxygenase (COX) expression is related to radiosensitivity. Using COX DNA transfection and COX inhibition by siRNA, we also examined changes in radiosensitivity caused by variations in COX expression. The survival fractions of HeLa and HT-3 cell lines, which both with COX-1 and COX-2 activity, were found to be significantly higher than that of the C33A cell line which had neither COX-1 nor COX-2 activity.

Apoptotic effect of celecoxib dependent upon p53 status in human ovarian cancer cells.

Celecoxib, a selective cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitor, induces the apoptosis in various cancers in COX-2 dependent and/or independent manners. The p53 protein is mutated in 50% of all human tumors and plays a key role in apoptosis, cell cycle, and the expression of several proteins. In ovarian cancer, the rate of p53 mutation has been shown to be very high and associated with poor prognosis.