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Query: UMLS:C0027651 (tumor)
 685,946 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The occurrence of ERBB-2 (HER-2/NEU) oncogene amplification was studied in 203 DNA samples obtained from 175 cancer patients. Amplification of ERBB-2 oncogene was established in 14 out of 63 (22%) patients with breast cancer, 1 out of 23 cases of ovarian tumor, 1 out of 19 cases of large bowel cancer and 1 out of 27 patients with cancer of the thyroid. Patients with lung cancer (34), soft tissue sarcoma (6) and malignant melanoma (3) failed to reveal any changes in the above oncogene. A tendency was established for ERBB-2 oncogene amplification to be associated with lymph node involvement in female patients with breast cancer: amplification was observed in 9 out of 28 patients presenting with lymph node metastases and only in 5 out of 29 metastases-free cases. To summarize, ERBB-2 oncogene is fairly often activated in human tumors but a high occurrence of the gene amplification was observed in female patients with breast cancer only.
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PMID:[The search for amplification of the ERBB-2 oncogene in human tumors]. 130 Jul 65

A principal difference between malignant and normal cells is the aberrant expression of oncogenes. Previously, we have reported on the expression of the insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF-1-R) in 93% of the human primary breast cancers studied. In the present study, we observed an increased gene copy number of the IGF-1-R in only 19 (2%) of 975 cases studied. The gene copy number of tumors with an amplified IGF-1-R gene varies between 3 and 56 (median, 24 copies). In 11 breast tumor samples with high (greater than or equal to 20 copies) IGF-1-R gene copy numbers, an additional amplification of either the c-myc gene (n = 3) or int-2/bcl-1 genes (n = 5) was observed, whereas no amplification of the HER2/neu gene was detected. The c-fes gene (like the IGF-1-R gene located on chromosome 15q25-qter), was found coamplified with the IGF-1-R in two cases, in one case to the same high extent (38 gene copies, each) and in the other case to only a moderate extent (4 copies of the c-fes gene and 21 copies of the IGF-1-R gene). Tumors with an amplified IGF-1-R gene showed a noticeable increased expression of the IGF-1-R as measured by ligand binding assays on membrane preparations. The median amount of the IGF-1-R protein of the amplified tumors was observed to be 35 times higher when compared to nonamplified tumors (P less than 0.001). Patients with tumors containing a high (greater than or equal to 20 copies) IGF-1-R gene copy number tend to have a shorter median overall survival (42 months; range, 14-120+; n = 8) than patients with tumors having a low amplified (3-10 copies) IGF-1-R gene copy number (median, 77 months; range, 19.5-98+; n = 4).
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PMID:Sporadic amplification of the insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor gene in human breast tumors. 131 Jun 36

The HER2 protooncogene encodes a 185-kD transmembrane phosphoglycoproteins, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (p185HER2), whose amplified expression on the cell surface can lead to malignant transformation. Overexpression of HER2/p185HER2 is strongly correlated with progression of human ovarian and breast carcinomas. Recent studies have shown that human T cells can be targeted with bispecific antibody to react against human tumor cells in vitro. We have developed a bispecific F(ab')2 antibody molecule consisting of a humanized arm with a specificity to p185HER2 linked to another arm derived from a murine anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody that we have cloned from UCHT1 hybridoma. The antigen-binding loops for the anti-CD3 were installed in the context of human variable region framework residues, thus forming a fully humanized BsF(ab')2 fragment. Additional variants were produced by replacement of amino acid residues located in light chain complementarity determining region 2 and heavy chain framework region 3 of the humanized anti-CD3 arm. Flow cytometry analysis showed that the bispecific F(ab')2 molecules can bind specifically to cells overexpressing p185HER2 and to normal human peripheral blood mononuclear cells bearing the CD3 surface marker. In additional experiments, the presence of bispecific F(ab')2 caused up to fourfold enhancement in the cytotoxic activities of human T cells against tumor cells overexpressing p185HER2 as determined by a 51Cr release assay. These bispecific molecules have a potential use as therapeutic agents for the treatment of cancer.
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PMID:Development of humanized bispecific antibodies reactive with cytotoxic lymphocytes and tumor cells overexpressing the HER2 protooncogene. 134 55

Overexpression of the HER2/neu oncogene in ovarian tumor cells is associated with relative resistance to lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) cell cytotoxicity. Treatment with gamma-interferon (IFN-gamma) (200-2000 units/ml) for 3 days markedly enhanced the sensitivity of HER2/neu-overexpressing ovarian tumor cells to LAK cells but had no effect on the sensitivity of nonexpressing ovarian targets. Increased sensitivity to lysis was associated with an increase in effector-target conjugate formation, the induction of target cell intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) expression, and the down-regulation of HER2/neu expression. Anti-ICAM-1 antibody blocked the enhanced lysis, indicating that ICAM-1 is important in the increased sensitivity to LAK cells. However, induction of ICAM-1 expression did not correlate well with enhanced sensitivity to lysis; it was maximal after 24 h of exposure to IFN-gamma and still present 24 h after removing IFN-gamma. In contrast, enhanced lysis required 3 days of exposure to IFN-gamma and was reversed within 24 h after removal of IFN-gamma. These data indicate that, although ICAM-1 is necessary, it is not sufficient for the IFN-gamma-induced enhancement of sensitivity to LAK lysis.
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PMID:Interferon-induced increase in sensitivity of ovarian cancer targets to lysis by lymphokine-activated killer cells: selective effects on HER2/neu-overexpressing cells. 134 83

The HER2/neu gene encodes a receptor tyrosine kinase that is highly homologous to the epidermal growth factor receptor. Overexpression of the receptor in mammary and ovarian carcinoma correlates with poor patient prognosis. To determine how the overexpression of a normal receptor leads to the generation of an oncogenic signal, we compared the patterns of tyrosine phosphorylation in tumor-derived human cell lines expressing high levels of p185HER2/neu. In intact SKBR3 cells, basal phosphorylation of p185HER2/neu was not detected. However, pretreatment of cells with the tyrosine phosphatase inhibitor, sodium orthovanadate, led to the detection of phosphotyrosine on phospholipase C-gamma (PLC-gamma), GTPase-activating protein but not on the RAF-1 kinase. Strikingly, PLC-gamma was detected in a complex which contained multiple tyrosine-phosphorylated polypeptides. This complex was detected only in cytoplasmic fractions and had a distinct composition in different p185HER2/neu-overexpressing cell lines. Although GTPase-activating protein has been found previously in association with proteins of 190 and 62 kDa in fibroblasts, in SKBR3 cells it was found associated with multiple additional tyrosine-phosphorylated polypeptides. These experiments show that SKBR3 cells possess high levels of protein tyrosine phosphatase that can act upon p185HER2/neu. Moreover, they reveal, for the first time, the presence of PLC-gamma and GTPase-activating protein in cytosolic complexes containing a variety of other tyrosine-phosphorylated polypeptides. These observations suggest novel possibilities for the specific definition of receptor-generated signals in tumor cells.
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PMID:Tyrosine phosphatase inhibition permits analysis of signal transduction complexes in p185HER2/neu-overexpressing human tumor cells. 134 42

The mechanism by which HER2/neu overexpressing tumor cells resist NK, LAK, and LDCC cytotoxic lymphocytes was investigated. Resistance was not explained by a delay in kinetics of lysis, concurrent resistance to TNF, or a diminished expression of the transferrin receptor. HLA-class I expression, however, was markedly elevated compared to HER2 nonexpressing targets suggesting a reason for resistance. To test the role of class I, we selectively decreased expression by incubation of targets with beta-2 microglobulin anti-sense oligonucleotides. Anti-sense-treated HER2+ targets, displaying levels of class I comparable to HER2- targets, were still markedly resistant to cytotoxic effectors. Down-regulation of class I expression in HER2- carcinoma cells also had no effect on sensitivity to cytotoxicity by anti-sense treatment of Raji and U937 targets resulted in enhanced sensitivity to NK and LAK effectors but not to T cells mediating LDCC. These data indicate resistance to cytotoxicity in HER2-expressing targets cannot be solely explained by heightened expression of class I. The data also support the concept that class I expression regulates sensitivity to NK and LAK cells (but not LDCC effectors) in selected targets.
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PMID:Effects of beta-2 microglobulin anti-sense oligonucleotides on sensitivity of HER2/neu oncogene-expressing and nonexpressing target cells to lymphocyte-mediated lysis. 134 16

Oncogene amplification is found in many human tumors, and its detection may have important prognostic value. However, analysis of gene amplification may be hampered by inadequate tissue or poor DNA quality. We have previously described a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based procedure called differential PCR that can detect variations in gene dosage using miniscule amounts of tumor DNA [Frye, R.A., Benz, C.C. & Liu, E. (1989). Oncogene, 4, 1153-1157]. We now report the optimization of this technique for the analysis of oncogene amplification in paraffin-embedded archival tissues. We find that differential PCR is able to detect amplification of the HER2 (c-erbB-2) and the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) genes and can be used to arrive at a semiquantitative estimate of gene dosage. Furthermore, our approach can determine gene amplification in samples in which the DNA is significantly degraded. Using differential PCR on paraffin-embedded tissues from cases previously investigated by standard DNA extraction and dot-blot procedures, good correlation between the two methods was found. Approaches are described to overcome technical problems posed by factors that affect the differential PCR, including the method of DNA extraction and extreme fragmentation of the DNA (less than 200 base pairs). Furthermore, the resulting analytical algorithm reported herein has proved effective in detecting oncogene amplification in archival breast cancer specimens from standard pathology laboratories. Thus, differential PCR will be particularly helpful in the analysis of tumor specimens that are archived, small in size or rare in occurrence.
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PMID:Analysis of gene amplification in archival tissue by differential polymerase chain reaction. 134 62

The proto-oncogene designated erbB2 or HER2 encodes a 185-kilodalton transmembrane tyrosine kinase (p185erbB2), whose overexpression has been correlated with a poor prognosis in several human malignancies. A 45-kilodalton protein heregulin-alpha (HRG-alpha) that specifically induced phosphorylation of p185erbB2 was purified from the conditioned medium of a human breast tumor cell line. Several complementary DNA clones encoding related HRGs were identified, all of which are similar to proteins in the epidermal growth factor family. Scatchard analysis of the binding of recombinant HRG to a breast tumor cell line expressing p185erbB2 showed a single high affinity binding site [dissociation constant (Kd) = 105 +/- 15 picomolar]. Heregulin transcripts were identified in several normal tissues and cancer cell lines. The HRGs may represent the natural ligands for p185erbB2.
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PMID:Identification of heregulin, a specific activator of p185erbB2. 135 Mar 81

To determine whether the sporadically occurring amplification of the oncogene erbB2/HER2 in gastrointestinal carcinomas is associated with additional changes of this sequence, DNA from 17 colorectal and 5 stomach carcinomas was analyzed for copy number, sequence rearrangement and DNA methylation by Southern blot hybridization. Amplification was detected in two cases. By applying the isochizomers Hpall and Mspl we tested for alterations in the DNA methylation status. Whereas in colon tumors with non-amplified erbB2 this status was unchanged, one case with erbB2 amplification showed additional MspI bands indicating a methylation of the amplified gene sequences. In stomach carcinoma, however, we detected differences between tumor and mucosa samples but not between amplified and non-amplified tumor samples. Independent of the DNA methylation status, significant amounts of the erbB2 oncoprotein were detected in the cases with gene amplification; weaker immunostaining of erbB2 was also seen in a few additional tumors.
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PMID:Tumor-specific methylation patterns of erbB2 (HER2/neu) sequences in gastro-intestinal cancer. 135 39

The HER-2/neu protooncogene (also called erbB-2) encodes a tyrosine kinase receptor for a polypeptide growth-regulatory molecule. Amplification and overexpression of the gene have been frequently observed in human adenocarcinomas and correlated with poor prognosis. To explore the potential of antibody therapy directed at the HER-2/Neu receptor, we have raised a panel of murine monoclonal antibodies to the human protein, and tested their effect on the tumorigenic growth of HER-2/neu-transfected fibroblasts in athymic mice. We previously reported that the i.p. injected antibodies either inhibited or accelerated the tumorigenic growth of HER-2/neu transfectants in athymic mice. Here we report that these opposing effects were induced also by i.v. injected antibodies, they lasted over 7 weeks, and were probably mediated by distinct epitopes on the receptor molecule. To understand the cellular mechanisms underlying antibody-induced tumor inhibition, we tested the effect of the monoclonal antibodies on various cultured human breast cancer cells. Our analysis revealed that the tumor-inhibitory antibodies specifically induced phenotypic cellular differentiation that included growth arrest at late S or early G2 phase of the cell cycle, markedly altered cytoplasm and nuclear morphology, synthesis and secretion of milk components (casein and lipids), and translocation of the HER-2/Neu protein to cytoplasmic and perinuclear sites. The extent of cellular differentiation by various antibodies could be correlated with their tumor-inhibitory potential, whereas a tumor-stimulatory monoclonal antibody or control immunoglobulin were completely inactive with respect to cellular differentiation. Taken together, our in vivo and in vitro studies correlate the tumor inhibitory potential of monoclonal antibodies to HER-2/Neu with their capacity to induce cellular differentiation in vitro. This observation may hold promise for immunotherapy of cancers that express the HER-2/neu oncogene.
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PMID:Tumor-inhibitory monoclonal antibodies to the HER-2/Neu receptor induce differentiation of human breast cancer cells. 137 72


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