Reactivity of monoclonal antibody FC-2.15 against drug resistant breast cancer cells. Additive cytotoxicity of adriamycin and taxol with FC-2.15.

Monoclonal antibody (MAb) FC-2.15 recognizes Lewis x antigen (Le(x)-Ag) expressed on the cell surface of most human breast cancer cells. FC-2.15 displays important human complement (C')-mediated cytotoxicity (CMC) against its target cells. In this study the reactivity of FC-2.15 against drug resistant-breast cancer cells was investigated, as well as the possibility to combine the antitumor activities of this MAb with adriamycin (Adr) or taxol. Since resistant clones with altered expression of tumor-associated antigens usually emerge after chemotherapy, the expression of Le(x)-Ag was analyzed in Adr(R) MCF-7 breast cancer cells (Adr resistant subline) and in tumor samples from nine patients with locally advanced breast carcinoma who were treated with FEC chemotherapy. A flow cytometry assay showed that most of Adr(R) MCF-7 cells, as well as wild type (WT) cells, expressed Le(x)-Ag; however, the Le(x) epitope is probably bound to different backbones in these cells. When the cytotoxic ability of FC-2.15 against WT and Adr(R) MCF-7 cells was compared, it was found that a 90 min treatment with FC-2.15 plus C' induced similar CMC against both cell lines. An important cytolysis was obtained at 5 microg/ml FC-2.15, reaching a plateau at 25 microg/ml, at which cell population was diminished to 21.1% for WT and 27.9 for Adr(R) MCF-7 cells. Regarding human tumors, Le(x)-Ag expression was evaluated in samples obtained before and in most cases after chemotherapy, and it could be observed that: 1) before treatment, tumor samples from all patients analyzed (responders and non-responders to chemotherapy) were FC-2.15-positive; 2) the presence of Le(x)-Ag was not modified after treatment. The combined action of Adr or taxol with FC-2.15 was then evaluated. WT and Adr(R) MCF-7 cells were cultured with Adr or taxol followed by an incubation with different FC-2.15 concentrations plus C'. When the effect of Adr alone was determined, ID50 were 1 x 10(-7) M for WT and 4.2 x 10(-5) M for Adr(R) MCF-7 cells. The cytotoxic ability of taxol alone was also tested, and ID50 were 6.4 x 10(-9) M for WT and 3.1 x 10(-6) M for Adr(R) MCF-7 cells. When FC-2.15 was added to Adr or taxol, the cytotoxicity of the drug-FC-2.15 combined treatment was always higher than the isolated effects, showing additive cytotoxicity at the different concentrations tested and with both cell lines. Our results suggest that FC-2.15 may be a useful agent against breast tumor cells which survive chemotherapy with Adr or taxol.

Description of a new human breast cancer cell line, IIB-BR-G, established from a primary undifferentiated tumor.

The establishment of a new human breast cancer cell line (IIB-BR-G) was successful after a previous growth of the cells isolated from a breast primary tumor in a female nude mouse. The IIB-BR-G cell line and the primary tumor do not express estrogen or progesterone receptors. Vimentin and keratin expression were found in the cell line and in the nude mouse tumor. This cell line displays high morphological heterogeneity with atypical multinucleated megacells, and it is capable of anchorage-independent growth and tumor formation in nude mice. The cytogenetic analysis confirmed its human origin and revealed multiple marker chromosomes and extensive chromosomal alterations including rearrangements, gains, losses, isochromosomes, and double minutes (DMs).

The expression of progesterone receptors coincides with an arrest of DNA synthesis in human breast cancer.

Two main models to account for the heterogeneous expression of estrogen receptors (ER) and progesterone receptors (PR) in human breast cancer have been proposed: the clonal model and the stem cell model. The authors previously provided evidence supporting the stem cell model since it was found that most of the proliferating cells in ER-positive (ER+) human breast cancer lack ER and that the ER-negative (ER-) and ER+ subpopulations are interrelated. The authors have analyzed in eighteen ER+/PR+ primary breast tumors the simultaneous expression of ER or PR (by immunohistochemistry) and DNA synthesis (by autoradiography) after 30 minutes of 3H-thymidine incorporation. The authors demonstrated that: (1) the average numbers of ER+ and PR+ cells were similar (36.8 +/- 10.7% and 39.3 +/- 17.6%, respectively); (2) The thymidine-labeling indexes of the ER+, ER-, PR+, and PR- subpopulations were 0.53 +/- 0.69%, 0.74 +/- 0.49%, 0.21 +/- 0.21 and 0.94 +/- 0.54%, respectively; and (3) 75.2% of the DNA-synthesizing cells were ER-, and 88.8% of them were PR-. The authors conclude that the cellular subpopulations expressing ER and PR were not identical, and the expression of PR was associated with a lower rate of cellular proliferation than was ER expression.