Increased natural killer cell activity correlates with low or negative expression of the HER-2/neu oncogene in patients with breast cancer

BACKGROUND

Increased expression of the HER-2/neu oncogene in breast cancer correlates with decreased estrogen receptor concentration and seems to be an important prognostic factor. The authors investigated whether there is a correlation between HER-2/neu expression and immunologic parameters representing tumor defense in patients with breast cancer.

METHOD

A Western blot analysis was used to investigate HER-2/neu expression, whereas a chromium-release assay using the K562 cell line as target was used to measure natural killer (NK) cell activity.

RESULTS

In patients with breast cancer, NK cell activity was significantly higher compared with patients with benign tumors (P = 0.006) or healthy control subjects (P = 0.002). Moreover, 23.3% of patients with breast cancer showed an overexpression of HER-2/neu protein. Within this group of patients, NK cell activity was significantly lower (45.6 +/- 16.1%) compared with the group with no HER-2/neu overexpression (57.3 +/- 11.0%). NK cell activity did not increase in patients with HER-2/neu overexpression. Thus, there was a statistically significant correlation of cytolytic effector cell function with HER-2/neu expression of the tumor (P = 0.003), and HER-2/neu overexpression correlated with a negative estrogen receptor status (P = 0.005).

CONCLUSION

These data add further evidence to previous observations from the authors' laboratory that certain tumor characteristics may be associated with reactions of the host with breast cancer.

Coumarin modulates the cell-cycle progression of an MTV-EJras cell line

The effects of coumarin (1,2-benzopyrone) on ras oncogene expression during the cell cycle of an MTV-EJras cell line was determined by flow cytometry. ras oncogene expression in cells was induced by dexamethasone and increased fivefold during G1/G0 phase and threefold in S phase. Dexamethasone also increased the percentage of cells in S phase from 21% to 31%, compared to phosphate-buffered-saline-treated control cells (P < 0.01). Coumarin decreased the percentage of dexamethasone-treated cells in S phase from 31% to 19%, with a concomitant increase in the percentage of cells in G1/G0 compared to control levels. Coumarin also reduced ras expression (mean fluorescence) by 40% in G1/G0 phase and 30% in S phase. We conclude that coumarin significantly reduces the cell-cycle progression of MTV-EJras cells and decreases ras expression in both G1 and S phases. These findings suggest a novel approach to the selective control of proliferation of malignant cells.

Increased natural killer cell activity correlates with low or negative expression of the HER-2/neu oncogene in patients with breast cancer

BACKGROUND

Increased expression of the HER-2/neu oncogene in breast cancer correlates with decreased estrogen receptor concentration and seems to be an important prognostic factor. The authors investigated whether there is a correlation between HER-2/neu expression and immunologic parameters representing tumor defense in patients with breast cancer.

METHOD

A Western blot analysis was used to investigate HER-2/neu expression, whereas a chromium-release assay using the K562 cell line as target was used to measure natural killer (NK) cell activity.

RESULTS

In patients with breast cancer, NK cell activity was significantly higher compared with patients with benign tumors (P = 0.006) or healthy control subjects (P = 0.002). Moreover, 23.3% of patients with breast cancer showed an overexpression of HER-2/neu protein. Within this group of patients, NK cell activity was significantly lower (45.6 +/- 16.1%) compared with the group with no HER-2/neu overexpression (57.3 +/- 11.0%). NK cell activity did not increase in patients with HER-2/neu overexpression. Thus, there was a statistically significant correlation of cytolytic effector cell function with HER-2/neu expression of the tumor (P = 0.003), and HER-2/neu overexpression correlated with a negative estrogen receptor status (P = 0.005).

CONCLUSION

These data add further evidence to previous observations from the authors' laboratory that certain tumor characteristics may be associated with reactions of the host with breast cancer.

Treatment of lymphangioleiomyomatosis by ovariectomy, interferon alpha 2b and tamoxifen--a case report

The gender-specific prevalence of lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) in premenopausal women suggests a hormonal etiology. Despite the antiestrogenic treatment (ovariectomy, tamoxifen) this disease is often refractory to therapy and almost inevitably leads to the patient's death. We describe a case where the antiproliferative effect of systemically applied interferon alpha 2b was successfully employed in addition to ovariectomy and the patient reached complete remission.

Pirarubicin (4'-o-tetrahydropyranil-adriamycin) for treatment of advanced breast cancer. A Clinical Phase II study

In a phase II study, 77 patients with metastatic breast cancer were treated with pirarubicin, 70 mg/m2 iv every 3 weeks. Most of them had received prior hormonal (n = 39) and/or chemotherapeutic drug treatment for advanced disease, including anthracycline-containing regimens in 17. After a median of 5.5 treatment cycles (range 1-14), objective tumor response was seen in 22/71 (31%) evaluable patients (4CR, 18 PR). Stable disease occurred in 34 (48%) patients, whereas the tumor progressed in 15 (21%). Significant hematologic toxicity (WHO grade III-IV) requiring interval and/or dose adjustments was observed in 41 (58%) patients. Other treatment-related side effects were generally mild, and included alopecia in 52 (73%), nausea and/or emesis in 50 (70%), and stomatitis and diarrhea in 3 patients each. There was no treatment-related death, nor was there any evidence of cardiac toxicity thus far. In summary, the early results of this trial suggest that pirarubicin is an active and rather well tolerated drug in pretreated patients with advanced breast cancer.

Determination of plasma free fatty acids, free cholesterol, cholesteryl esters, and triacylglycerols directly from total lipid extract by capillary gas chromatography

An accurate capillary gas chromatographic method using different internal standards for determining free fatty acids, cholesterol, cholesteryl esters, and triacylglycerols in plasma and other biological sources is described. It is designed to give information about species composition and, consequently, more detailed information about changes in lipid metabolism of patients suffering from metabolic disorders. After plasma extraction the lipids, except phospholipids, are directly examined without any further derivatization. For free fatty acid determination the programmed temperature vaporizer (PTV) injector was heated from 40 degrees C (sample introduction) to 190 degrees C. In a second gas chromatographic run the PTV-injector system was heated from 60 degrees C (sample introduction) to 400 degrees C, enabling the determination of free cholesterol, cholesteryl esters, and triacylglycerol species, differing in the number of carbon atoms. Evaluation of the values obtained resulted in coefficients of variation (%) of 1.0-2.8, 2.0, 1.29-2.24, and 2.8, for free fatty acid standards, plasma free fatty acids, cholesterol and cholesteryl ester standards, and plasma total cholesterol, respectively. Free fatty acids, cholesterol, and cholesteryl esters were not influenced by storage of plasma at -24 degrees C up to 4 days prior to extraction. The results of the gas chromatographic method and the enzymatic methods correlated well. Determination by gas chromatography yielded higher total cholesterol and lower triacylglycerol values than those values obtained by enzymatic methods.

VMCP chemotherapy with or without interferon-alpha-2 in newly diagnosed patients with multiple myeloma

Fifty-two previously untreated patients with multiple myeloma were randomized to either a combination of recombinant interferon (rIFN) alpha-2 and chemotherapy or chemotherapy alone. Patients were treated with vincristine, melphalan, cyclophosphamide and prednisolone every 4-6 weeks. In the combined treatment arm rIFN was administered concurrently with chemotherapy as well as during chemotherapy free intervals. The combined regimen effected 17/21 (80.9%) responses as compared to 19/27 (70.4%) responses in VMCP treated patients. Addition of rIFN to chemotherapy did not enhance hematologic toxicity. These findings suggest a somewhat higher rate of objective response in the VPMC + rIFN group, although a significant improvement in median survival by adding rIFN to conventional first line polychemotherapy in myeloma patients has not yet been achieved.

[Oncogenes]

Within a very short time the application of molecular biology to cancer research has resulted in an essential change and extension of our knowledge of transformation processes and tumor development. For the first time these mechanisms can be understood in a causal manner and causal cancer therapy seems to be possible in the near future. In this manuscript an attempt is made to give a brief survey of the influence of oncogenes on carcinogenesis. An account is given of the origin of viral oncogenes, viral mechanisms of cell transformation and activation of cellular oncogenes. Additionally, kinetics and targets of tumor proteins are discussed. The complexity and diversity of genetic regulation of growth and differentiation is discussed in some well known diseases such as chronic myeloid leukemia, Burkitt lymphoma, retinoblastoma and acute myeloid leukemia.

CSF cytology of a patient with conversion of an acute lymphatic leukemia to an acute eosinophilic leukemia

The course of leukemic disease in a male adolescent with meningeal leukemia is described. The bone marrow aspirates showed a conversion from an acute lymphatic leukemia to an eosinophilic leukemia. Four weeks after the peripheral shift of phenotype two different cell clones were detected in one CSF smear. While under ultrahigh dose araC therapy the patient died 3 months after conversion. Possible explanation for the shift of phenotype and the peculiar leptomeningeal infiltration are discussed.

[Lack of effect of aging on dopaminergic inhibition of aldosterone and prolactin increase]

Because of the decreased dopamine concentration in the elderly brain an alteration of the dopaminergic suppression of aldosterone and prolactin incretion was postulated. In contrast, the application of the dopamine D2-antagonist metoclopramide showed no significant difference as to the blockade of this dopaminergic suppression in two groups of patients with a mean age of 40 and 80 years. Subsequently aldosterone and prolactin incretion was equally stimulated in both groups.

Elevated extracellular potassium concentration in unstimulated spinal dorsal horns of frogs

The extracellular K+ concentration, [K+]e, was studied in unstimulated spinal cords in situ or in isolated spinal cords of frogs. The [K+]e in the dorsal horn at a depth of 150-500 microM exceeded the [K+]e found in the submeningeal fluid, in most of the upper dorsal horn and in the ventral horn by as much as 2.0 mmol . 1(-1). A substantially higher [K+]e, by 0.5-1.0 mmol . 1(-1) was also found in the intermediate region. The blockade of synaptic activity and of spontaneous activity in isolated spinal cords superfused by Ringer solution with high Mg2+ or Mn2+ concentrations decreased [K+]e in the dorsal horn and intermediate region to about 3.0 mmol . 1(-1). Similarly, the increase of spontaneous activity evoked in the isolated cords by changing the temperature of the Ringer solution, was associated with an increase of [K+]e in the dorsal spinal horn. The data suggest that the high [K+]e in the unstimulated dorsal horn results from K+ accumulation during spontaneous activity of interneurones, and its possible physiological role is discussed.

Formation of magnesium-phosphoenzyme and magnesium-calcium-phosphoenzyme in the phosphorylation of adenosine triphosphatase by orthophosphate in sarcoplasmic reticulum. Models of a reaction sequence

The aim of the present study was to test simple reaction sequences which describe calcium-independent plus calcium-dependent phosphorylation of sarcoplasmic reticulum transport. ATPase by orthophosphate including the function of magnesium in phosphoenzyme formation. The reaction schemes considered were based on the reaction sequence for calcium-independent phosphorylation proposed previously; namely that the transport enzyme (E) forms a ternary complex (Mg . E . Pi), by random binding of free magnesium and free orthophosphate, which is in equilibrium with the magnesium-phosphoenzyme (Mg . E-P). Phosphorylation, performed at pH 7.0 20 degrees C and a constant free orthophosphate concentration using sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles either unloaded or loaded passively with calcium in the presence of 5 mM or 40 mM CaCl2, resulted in a gradual decrease in the apparent magnesium half-saturation constant and an increase in maximum phosphoprotein formation with increasing calcium loads. When phosphorylation of sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles preloaded in the presence of 5 mM CaCl2 was performed at a constant free magnesium concentration, a decrease in the apparent orthophosphate half-saturation constant and an increase in maximum phosphoprotein formation was observed as compared with vesicles from which calcium inside has been removed by ionophore X-537A plus EGTA treatment; however, both parameters remained unchanged by increasing free magnesium from 20 mM to 30 mM. When phosphorylation of sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles passively loaded with calcium in the presence of 40 mM CaCl2, at which the saturation of the low-affinity calcium binding sites of the ATPase is presumably near maximum, was performed at increasing concentrations of free orthophosphate, there was a parallel shift of phosphoprotein formation as a function of free magnesium and vice versa, with no change in the maximum phosphoenzyme formation. Comparison of the experimental data with the pattern of phosphoprotein formation predicted from model equations for various theoretical possible reaction sequences suggests that phosphoenzyme formation from orthophosphate possesses the following features. Firstly, calcium present at the inside of the sarcoplasmic reticulum membrane binds to the free enzyme and in sequential order to E . Mg . Pi or Mg . E-P or to both, but neither to E. Mg nor to E . Pi. Secondly, calcium-independent and calcium-dependent phosphoproteins are magnesium-phosphoenzymes. Calcium-dependent phosphoenzyme is a magnesium-calcium-enzyme phosphate complex with 1 magnesium, 2 calciums and 1 orthophosphate (the last covalently) bound to the enzyme [Mg . E-P . (Cai)2], and not a 'calcium-phosphoprotein' without bound magnesium.

Family studies of neutrophil alloantigens in bone marrow transplantation

In order to evaluate the utility of the neutrophil specific antigens NA1, NA2, Vaz (NC1), NB1 and 9a in the documentation of bone marrow chimeras in recipients of allogeneic bone marrow grafts, neutrophil antigen typing was performed by EDTA microagglutination on the families of 17 patients with hematopoietic disorders under evaluation for bone marrow transplantation. Mendelian segregation independent of HLA and mutually independent was noted for the NA, NB and 9a systems. Vaz (NC1) segregated with and was included in NA2. Serological complexity was noted for NA1 and NA2. Typing for neutrophil antigens was achieved for 13 of 17 patients. Eight of 10 patients with HLA identical siblings had neutrophil antigen markers differing between donor and recipient. Conversion to donor neutrophil phenotype was documented for four recipients of bone marrow grafts. The neutrophil antigens, particularly of the NA system, appear to be useful additional markers for allogeneic bone marrow engraftment.