Independent component analysis for rectal bleeding prediction following prostate cancer radiotherapy.

Background And Purpose: To evaluate the benefit of independent component analysis (ICA)-based models for predicting rectal bleeding (RB) following prostate cancer radiotherapy.

Materials And Methods: A total of 593 irradiated prostate cancer patients were prospectively analyzed for Grade ≥2 RB. ICA was used to extract two informative subspaces (presenting RB or not) from the rectal DVHs, enabling a set of new pICA parameters to be estimated.

[Conformal intensity modulated radiation therapy for localized prostate cancer: Toward a new standard].

Radiation therapy is now widely accepted as an efficacious treatment of localized prostate cancer. Recent advances, namely with the development of conformal radiotherapy, allowed to increase the total dose in the target volumes with greater local control. A forward step achieved with intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) in terms of therapeutic ratio between target volumes and critical organs.

Erk5 controls Slug expression and keratinocyte activation during wound healing.

Reepithelialization during cutaneous wound healing involves numerous signals that result in basal keratinocyte activation, spreading, and migration, all linked to a loosening of cell-cell adhesion structures. The transcription factor Slug is required for this process, and EGF treatment of human keratinocytes induced activating phosphorylation of Erk5 that coincides with slug transcription. Accordingly, ectopic activation of Erk5 led to increased Slug mRNA levels and faster wound healing, whereas keratinocyte migration was totally blocked by Erk5 pathway inhibition.

Radiocurability by targeting tumor necrosis factor-alpha using a bispecific antibody in carcinoembryonic antigen transgenic mice.

Purpose: Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) enhances radiotherapy (RT) killing of tumor cells in vitro and in vivo. To overcome systemic side effects, we used a bispecific antibody (BsAb) directed against carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and TNF-alpha to target this cytokine in a CEA-expressing colon carcinoma. We report the evaluation of this strategy in immunocompetent CEA-transgenic mice.

[Combination of anti-EGFR and anti-HER2 antibodies: hope in pancreatic cancer treatment].

Unresectable pancreatic cancer is still an extremely dismal prognosis. The conventional therapy using chemotherapy has no real effect on survival and new treatments are needed. EGFR and HER2 have been reported to be implicated and upregulated in pancreatic cancer tumorigenesis.

In vivo therapeutic synergism of anti-epidermal growth factor receptor and anti-HER2 monoclonal antibodies against pancreatic carcinomas.

Purpose: Pancreatic carcinoma is highly resistant to therapy. Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and HER2 have been reported to be both dysregulated in this cancer. To evaluate the in vivo effect of binding both EGFR and HER2 with two therapeutic humanized monoclonal antibodies (mAb), we treated human pancreatic carcinoma xenografts, expressing high EGFR and low HER2 levels.

MHC class I-related chain A conjugated to antitumor antibodies can sensitize tumor cells to specific lysis by natural killer cells.

Purpose: As a first step for the development of a new cancer immunotherapy strategy, we evaluated whether antibody-mediated coating by MHC class I-related chain A (MICA) could sensitize tumor cells to lysis by natural killer (NK) cells.

Experimental Design: Recombinant MICA (rMICA) was chemically conjugated to Fab' fragments from monoclonal antibodies specific for tumor-associated antigens, such as carcinoembryonic antigen, HER2, or CD20.

Results: Flow cytometry analysis showed an efficient coating of MICA-negative human cancer cell lines with the Fab-rMICA conjugates.