Ovarian Cancer Biology and Immunotherapy

Ovarian cancer is the most lethal malignancy of the female reproductive system and the fifth leading cause of cancer death in women. In the year 2012 alone, United States had 22,280 new ovarian cancer cases and 15,500 deaths were reported. About 7%–10% of ovarian cancers result from an inherited tendency to develop the disease. Ovarian cancer has the ability to escape the immune system because of its pathological interactions between cancer cells and host immune cells in the tumor microenvironment create an immunosuppressive network that promotes tumor growth, protects the tumor from immune system. The levels of immune suppressive elements like regulatory T cells, plasmacytoid dendritic cells and cytokines such as IL-10, IL-6, TNF-α, and TGF-β are elevated in the tumor microenvironment. Vascular endothelial growth factor is known to have an immune suppressing role besides its angiogenic role in the tumor microenvironment. Ovarian cancer is associated with high mortality partly due to difficulties in early diagnosis and development of metastases. These problems may overcome by developing accurate mouse models that should mimic the complexity of human ovarian cancer. Such animal models are better suited to understand pathophysiology, metastases, and also for preclinical testing of targeted molecular therapeutics. Immunotherapy is an area of active investigation and off late many clinical trials is ongoing to prevent disease progression. The main aim of dendritic cells vaccination is to stimulate tumor specific effector T cells that can reduce tumor size and induce immunological memory to prevent tumor relapse.     

Decorin-Mediated Effects in Cancer Cell Biology

Decorin is a multifunctional molecule of the extracellular matrix. Among the multitude of assigned functions the most intriguing is the ability to inhibit the growth and the metastasis of a wide range of cancer cells in vitro. Decorin was established to directly interact with EGFR and erb2, inducing protracted receptor internalization, which results in attenuation of the receptor-mediated intacellular signaling and induction of apoptosis. Studies by our group of osteosarcoma cells described the first exception to the established decorin-mediated growth suppression model. Osteosarcoma cells constitutively produced decorin and they were not sensitive to decorin-induced growth arrest. On the contrary, decorin seemed to be beneficial to osteosarcoma cells, since it was necessary for cell migration and acted as mediator, counteracting the TGFβ2-induced cytostatic function. Importantly, decorin did not induce p21 expression whereas EGFR appeared to be overexpressed and continuously phosphorylated in our osteosarcoma model. These data provide new insight on pathways that cancer cells might employ to overcome the established decorin-induced growth suppression.     

合成生物学在膀胱癌治疗的应用前景

合成生物学以分子生物学为基础,将工程学和生物学进行集成,通过设计并构建新的生物元件、线路、网络甚至基因组来解决相关问题。采用合成生物学理论与技术,可在人工可控的工程体系中分析肿瘤细胞发展的复杂网络事件,挖掘特异性治疗靶标,构建特异性攻击肿瘤细胞的多靶点治疗系统。膀胱癌是一种严重危害人类健康的恶性肿瘤。分子生物治疗曾是膀胱癌患者治愈的希望。但因缺乏特异性识别和治疗靶标、高效的载体和干扰体系,发展受到限制,非常有必要探索新的治疗途径。现在合成生物学的发展为突破传统膀胱癌生物治疗瓶颈带来新的希望。     

透明质酸介导的细胞游走受体基因的分子生物学特性及其与肿瘤的关系

透明质酸介导的细胞游走受体(receptor for hyaluronan-mediated motility,RHAMM)是继CD44之后发现的,分布于细胞膜表面、细胞浆以及细胞核,参与细胞分裂周期的调节、细胞的生长增殖、细胞迁移运动、细胞骨架的组装以及维持中心体和纺锤体极的结构的完整性,与细胞恶性转化、肿瘤浸润和转移等生物学行为密切相关;并且已作为一些肿瘤的肿瘤相关抗原,确定了其抗原表位,成为肿瘤免疫治疗的靶点;在一些肿瘤组织内的表达水平升高和呈现一定的表达模式,与肿瘤临床分级以及肿瘤预后有一定的相关性。     

Lobular Breast Cancer: Pathology, Biology, and Options for Clinical Intervention

Lobular carcinoma is a breast cancer subtype comprising approximately 15 % of all breast cancer cases. Clinical diagnosis of this subtype is difficult due to a characteristic growth pattern that inhibits detection using palpation or standard X-ray mammography. While clinical intervention based on hormone antagonists has proven an effective strategy, hormone receptor negative or nonresponsive disease cannot be treated successfully, indicating the need for alternative curative approaches. In contrast to its well-defined histopathological characteristics that were first recognized a century ago, the surface of the underlying biology has only recently been scratched. Progress was made in understanding the biology of the disease, which will hopefully have its impact on future treatment modalities and initiate development of novel intervention strategies. Here, we review the pathological and molecular features of lobular breast cancer and report on the currently known mechanisms that control disease development and progression. Finally we will reflect on past, present, and future treatment options.