Interferon-alpha and gamma mediated gene responses in a human breast carcinoma cell line

Current Immunotherapy Treatments of Primary Breast Cancer Subtypes

Breast cancer receives the most funding when compared to any other cancer type, according to a global study conducted by The Lancet. Nevertheless, this malignancy remains the most diagnosed cancer among women and relies heavily on a neoadjuvant treatment regimen of chemotherapy and targeted therapy. After standard treatment, 25-30% of breast cancer patients still develop disease recurrence and must undergo cytoreductive debulking surgery followed by intensive chemotherapy. An array of targeted therapies are currently being utilized and developed to alleviate negative side effects, eradicate cancer growth, and diminish disease recurrence. Immunotherapy is a promising cancer therapy that upregulates one's immune system to stimulate a therapeutic effect and is utilized for cancer management among other ailments such as immunodeficiencies, hypersensitivity reactions, autoimmune diseases, inflammatory disorders, tissue and organ transplantation, and infectious diseases. This review highlights the five primary subtypes of breast cancer, provides a brief history of immunotherapy, evaluates the current landscape of treating breast cancer with immunotherapy, analyzes selected ongoing or recently completed immunotherapy clinical trials for hormone receptor-positive, HER2-enriched, and triple-negative breast cancer, and examines future trends for the treatment of breast cancer with immunotherapeutic techniques. This review provides a formal summary categorized by breast cancer subtype rather than types of immunotherapeutic treatment.

Cognitive-behavioral stress management reverses anxiety-related leukocyte transcriptional dynamics

BACKGROUND

Chronic threat and anxiety are associated with pro-inflammatory transcriptional profiles in circulating leukocytes, but the causal direction of that relationship has not been established. This study tested whether a cognitive-behavioral stress management (CBSM) intervention targeting negative affect and cognition might counteract anxiety-related transcriptional alterations in people confronting a major medical threat.

METHODS

One hundred ninety-nine women undergoing primary treatment of stage 0-III breast cancer were randomized to a 10-week CBSM protocol or an active control condition. Seventy-nine provided peripheral blood leukocyte samples for genome-wide transcriptional profiling and bioinformatic analyses at baseline, 6-month, and 12-month follow-ups.

RESULTS

Baseline negative affect was associated with >50% differential expression of 201 leukocyte transcripts, including upregulated expression of pro-inflammatory and metastasis-related genes. CBSM altered leukocyte expression of 91 genes by >50% at follow-up (group × time interaction), including downregulation of pro-inflammatory and metastasis-related genes and upregulation of type I interferon response genes. Promoter-based bioinformatic analyses implicated decreased activity of NF-κB/Rel and GATA family transcription factors and increased activity of interferon response factors and the glucocorticoid receptor as potential mediators of CBSM-induced transcriptional alterations.

CONCLUSIONS

In early-stage breast cancer patients, a 10-week CBSM intervention can reverse anxiety-related upregulation of pro-inflammatory gene expression in circulating leukocytes. These findings clarify the molecular signaling pathways by which behavioral interventions can influence physical health and alter peripheral inflammatory processes that may reciprocally affect brain affective and cognitive processes.

Immune therapy for breast cancer in 2010-hype or hope?

The identification of numerous breast cancer antigens has generated increasing enthusiasm for the application of immune-based therapies in breast malignancies. Although the use of monoclonal antibodies has revolutionized the "targeted therapy" of breast cancer, and the immunomodulatory effects of bisphosphonates continue to be evaluated, few studies to date have demonstrated widespread utility for other forms of immunotherapy. The present review assesses modern research and explores whether the hopes for immunotherapy can overcome the hype.

The interferon-induced gene ISG12 is regulated by various cytokines as the gene 6-16 in human cell lines

The gene for ISG12 (originally designated p27) was isolated as an oestrogen-induced gene. The authors undertook a comprehensive study using quantitative RT-PCR, in which we delineate the regulation of ISG12 by seven different cytokines including interferons and poly(I). poly(C) in seven human cell lines of different origin. In all cell lines ISG12 is strongly induced by IFN-alpha and only slightly by IFNgamma. Poly(I).poly(C) induces ISG12 in a cell line-dependent manner, whereas none of the other cytokines tested elicited a response. Comparing the induction pattern of ISG12 to that of 6-16 a high degree of similarity was found. The induction levels varied, however, between cell lines.

Augmentation of cytotoxicity using combinations of interferons (types I and II), tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and tamoxifen in MCF-7 cells

The cytotoxic effect of a combination of interferons (type I and II) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF), with an antiestrogenic drug, tamoxifen (TAM), was investigated in the estrogen receptor positive human breast carcinoma cell line, MCF-7. Cytotoxicity was measured by the MTT assay. In an attempt to define the molecular basis for the interaction between the interferons (IFNs) and TNF or any one of the cytokines with TAM, the induction characteristics of a number of IFN-induced mRNAs in response to IFNs, TNF, and TAM were studied. We observed an augmentation of the cytotoxic effect of TNF when it was combined with TAM. There appears to be an overlap in signalling mechanisms of IFNs and TNF as two of the IFN-inducible genes, 1-8 and 6-16 are also induced by TNF. mRNA 1-8 was induced by both IFN-alpha (type I) and IFN-gamma (type II). We conclude that TNF potentiates the cytotoxic effects of TAM in MCF-7 cells and that the three cytokines IFN-alpha, IFN-gamma, and TNF share some pathways that lead to specific induction of some cytokine responsive genes.

A distinct kinase modulates the expression of IFN-inducible genes in human breast cancer cells

The biological activity of interferons (IFNs) is presumed to be mediated through the induction of a number of IFN-inducible genes. IFN-mediated gene induction was examined in two human breast cancer cell lines, MCF-7 and BT-20. Both these cell lines were remarkably responsive to IFNs as a number of IFN inducible genes were rapidly induced. We examined the sensitivity of these genes towards 2-aminopurine (2-AP), a known inhibitor of double-stranded (ds) RNA dependent protein kinase. 2-AP has also been reported to inhibit the induction of IFN-beta 1 in response to dsRNA and the genes c-myc and c-fos in fibroblasts. In both MCF-7 and BT-20 cell lines, 2-AP selectively inhibited the IFN-induced gene responses. 2-AP did not affect levels of the oncogene, HER-2/neu. Tamoxifen (TAM), an antiestrogenic drug, which is known to inhibit the activity of protein kinase C at high concentrations, did not affect IFN-mediated gene induction. Our data is consistent with the concept that the 2-AP sensitive kinase is primarily associated with the IFN-induced gene systems and that positive and negative growth regulating stimuli in breast cancer may require the participation of distinct kinases.