Sodium-dependent phosphate transporter NaPi2b as a potential predictive marker for targeted therapy of ovarian cancer.

The high mortality rate from ovarian cancer is due to the asymptomatic nature of the course of the disease, which leads to the diagnosis of ovarian cancer in later stages. The sodium-dependent phosphate transporter NaPi2b encoded by SLC34A2 gene is expressed in 80-90% of epithelial ovarian cancers and used as a target for therapeutic antibodies XMT-1536, and XMT-1592, which are derived from MX35 antibodies and used in clinical trials for the treatment of ovarian and lung cancers. In this work, we aimed to evaluate NaPi2b as a molecular marker for diagnostics and predicting the course and outcome of ovarian cancer disease. Quantitative analysis of SLC34A2 gene expression in ovarian tumor tissue was performed at the level of transcription and translation using real-time PCR, droplet digital PCR and Western blot analysis respectively. Statistical analysis was performed taking into account various clinicopathological characteristics of the ovarian cancer patients, including the stage of the disease, the tumor grade, the applying of neoadjuvant chemotherapy and the presence of ascites. In this work, we demonstrated that the expression of the human NaPi2b (hNaPi2b) transporter is downregulated in the tumors of patients receiving neoadjuvant therapy and during the development of disease. The data suggest that the level of expression of the SLC34A2 gene can serve as a potential marker for the monitoring and predicting responses to neoadjuvant and targeted therapy in patients with ovarian cancer.

Tumor Cell Behavior in Porous Hydrogels: Effect of Application Technique and Doxorubicin Treatment.

The effect of porosity on diffusion characteristics of scaffolds and invasive capacity of MCF-7 and PC-3 tumor cells was studied for gelatin hydrogels. According to MTS test results, the efficiency of population of a macroporous cryogel by cells applied by different techniques increased in the following order: migration from the monolayer

Application of serex-analysis for identification of human colon cancer antigens.

BACKGROUND: Colorectal, lung and breast tumors are the most devastating and frequent malignances in clinical oncology. SEREX-analysis of colon cancer leads to identification of more than hundred antigens which are potential tumor markers. With idea that immunoscreening with pool of allogeneic sera is more productive for antigen isolation, SEREX-analysis was applied to four cases of stages II-IV primary colon tumor and 22 new antigens were isolated. OBJECTIVE: To characterize 22 primary colon cancer antigens isolated by SEREX-technique. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Allogenic screening, real-time PCR analysis. RESULTS: After allogeneic immunoscreening, for 5 of 22 (22%) isolated antigens were confirmed colon cancer restricted serological profile solely positive for 14% of tested colon cancer sera. Through these five antigens, KY-CC-17/ß-actin has cytoskeleton function; KY-CC-14/ACTR1A and KY-CC-19/TSGA2 participate in chromosome segregation; KY-CC-12/FKBP4 regulates steroid receptor function and KY-CC-15/PLRG1 is a component of spliceosome complex. For the last four antigens tested were found aberrant mRNA expression in some cases of colon tumor. CONCLUSION: The exploration of identified antigens may define suitable targets for immunotherapy or diagnostic of colon cancer.

Medullary breast carcinoma.

More then half a million cases each year makes breast cancer the most common malignancy in female. Medullary breast carcinoma (MBC) is a type of invasive ductal breast carcinoma that usually has favorable prognosis and is characterized by the high graded structure, high mitotic rate and heavy lymphoid infiltration. The last feature makes MBC an attractive subject for detailed studies in respect to development of novel immunological approaches for cancer treatment. In this review we have summarized the data on MBC morphology, antigenic repertoire and molecular biology features. The aim of this review was to illuminate the unique biological features and to outline theoretical basis for further investigations of MBC.