Breast Cancer Immunodiagnosis and Immunotherapy


Book Description

The convening of the 3rd International Workshop on Monoclonal Antibodies and Breast Cancer had the character of a self-search exercise. After almost a decade of research in the basic and applied aspects of the use of serological means to diagnose and possibly treat breast cancer several milestones have been reached. Among them a clear understanding of immunopathological use and limitations of monoclonal antibodies against breast epithelium, the complete development and clinical use of immunoassays for circulating breast epithelial antigens, the striking advances in the diagnostic use of monoclonal antibodies to estrogen and progesterone receptor proteins and the first communications on proposed immunotherapeutic use of different conjugates of anti-breast antibodies. New areas of investigation have developed in our field, some which are reaching a full blossom while others are still facing obstacles and at times a re-definition of their goals and objectives. These meetings have acted in a way as a clearing house and have permitted their attendees to derive predictions that have helped shape future research and fine-tune objectives. But above all, the re-evaluation of past research at these Workshops and the renewed excitement brought to them by new information has helped generate a momentum and enthusiasm that assures for the future large scientific gains.




Immunodiagnosis and Immunotherapy of Malignant Tumors


Book Description

The concept of immunologic responses against tumors is currently under intense scrutiny throughout the world. The evidence for the existence of tumor-specific transplantation antigens (TSTA) and specific immune reactions to them in experimental animals is overwhelming. The available data concerning human tumors are controversial. The reason for this is partially that antigens detectable on human tumors by in vitro assays have not been biologically characterized. In other words, we do not know if the antigens on human tumors are acting as the targets for immunologically mediated rejection processes in vivo. It was the purpose of this workshop to bring experimental tumor immunologists and clinical oncologists together in order to disclose facts and limits in tumor immunology. Clinicians were to learn how shaky the ground becomes once the experimentalist looks beyond the edge of the mouse cage. Tumor biologists heard the clinicians' urgent cry for controlled randomized trials of immunotherapy which thus reflects clearly that immunotherapy in its present form without knowledge of dose-effect-relationship does not work. Nobody would deny that the problem of human cancer smells of immunology, but since we are just about to taste it the essential ingredient might be different. In other words one might look at present rather at immunological epiphenomena than at mechanisms of tumor immul1lty operating in vivo. This problem was among others a central issue of this workshop.




Antigen and Antibody Molecular Engineering in Breast Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment


Book Description

Today, advances in the area of immunology and breast cancer are made at an increasing rate, yielding an amount of information that can become unwieldy. The opportunity for scientists in this area of research to gather together to exchange results and working hypotheses represents, in my belief, a very attractive proposition. With this in mind, these workshops have been convened with two year intervals for the last ten years. In each of them, selected topics have been highlighted. The present workshop underscores the large advancements made in the molecular biology of both breast cancer associated antigens and their corresponding antibodies. Understanding the genetic information for the expression of these antigens has been recently advanced leading to preparation of molecularly engineered reagents for use in vaccination, serum assays, and immunizations for novel antibody production. In the anti-breast cancer antibody field the availability of molecular engineering approaches to humanize murine antibodies has induced intense interest in the creation of less immunogenic antibody forms that are now available for clinical testing. Clinical studies using anti-breast murine antibody continue to be carried out and are presented at this meeting establishing a base line for safety and efficaciousness in imaging and immunotherapy that it is hoped will be superseded by the humanized forms. Basic immunology and immunochemistry studies in breast cancer are also included in this workshop that demonstrate the fast pace at which this research is advancing in many laboratories worldwide.




Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy


Book Description

The interplay between tumors and their immunologic microenvironment is complex, difficult to decipher, but its understanding is of seminal importance for the development of novel prognostic markers and therapeutic strategies. The present review discusses tumor-immune interactions in several human cancers that illustrate various aspects of this complexity and proposes an integrated scheme of the impact of local immune reactions on clinical outcome. Current active immunotherapy trials have shown durable tumor regressions in a fraction of patients. However, clinical efficacy of current vaccines is limited, possibly because tumors skew the immune system by means of myeloid-derived suppressor cells, inflammatory type 2 T cells and regulatory T cells (Tregs), all of which prevent the generation of effector cells. To improve the clinical efficacy of cancer vaccines in patients with metastatic disease, we need to design novel and improved strategies that can boost adaptive immunity to cancer, help overcome Tregs and allow the breakdown of the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment.




Carbohydrate Antigens


Book Description

Developed from a symposium at the Fourth Chemical Congress of North America (202nd National Meeting of the ACS) in New York City, August 1991, chapter-papers present research on topics including how proteins recognize and bind oligosaccharides, synthesis and immunological properties of glycopeptide T-cell determinants, Vibrio cholerae polysaccharide studies, and purification of oligosaccharide antigens by weak affinity chromatography. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR




Current Catalog


Book Description

First multi-year cumulation covers six years: 1965-70.




Monoclonal Antibodies and Breast Cancer


Book Description

Breast cancer, being a disease with very high prevalence in the female population, has permanently attracted the attention of biologists, biochemists, pathologists, surgeons, and oncologists. In the U.S. alone approximately 120,000 new cases are diagnosed and 37,000 deaths a year are recorded as an outcome. Early diagnosis, clear cut prognosis and the hope of new therapeutic approaches has spurred the enthusiasm of researchers, who with the advent of newer methodologies, tried to employ it in different approaches to the breast cancer patient. In spite of the efforts devoted towards the creation of new approaches, reagents and procedures taking advantage of special characteristics of the breast tissue were slow to come. In general, most diagnostic and prognostic techniques were those shared and applied to other carcinomas. In the early seventies we discovered the first sets of antigens associated with breast epithelial tissue both in the mouse and the human. The recognition of such group of molecules, present in the milk fat globule membrane, gave impetus to several studies in these areas. These mammary cell surface antigens proved useful in several diagnostic approaches such as radioimaging, histochemical and serum assay procedures. However, the apparently inherent limitations of polyclonal antibodies reduced the impact of these novel approaches.




Research Awards Index


Book Description




Monoclonal Antibody Production


Book Description

The American Anti-Vivisection Society (AAVS) petitioned the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on April 23, 1997, to prohibit the use of animals in the production of mAb. On September 18, 1997, NIH declined to prohibit the use of mice in mAb production, stating that "the ascites method of mAb production is scientifically appropriate for some research projects and cannot be replaced." On March 26, 1998, AAVS submitted a second petition, stating that "NIH failed to provide valid scientific reasons for not supporting a proposed ban." The office of the NIH director asked the National Research Council to conduct a study of methods of producing mAb. In response to that request, the Research Council appointed the Committee on Methods of Producing Monoclonal Antibodies, to act on behalf of the Institute for Laboratory Animal Research of the Commission on Life Sciences, to conduct the study. The 11 expert members of the committee had extensive experience in biomedical research, laboratory animal medicine, animal welfare, pain research, and patient advocacy (Appendix B). The committee was asked to determine whether there was a scientific necessity for the mouse ascites method; if so, whether the method caused pain or distress; and, if so, what could be done to minimize the pain or distress. The committee was also asked to comment on available in vitro methods; to suggest what acceptable scientific rationale, if any, there was for using the mouse ascites method; and to identify regulatory requirements for the continued use of the mouse ascites method. The committee held an open data-gathering meeting during which its members summarized data bearing on those questions. A 1-day workshop (Appendix A) was attended by 34 participants, 14 of whom made formal presentations. A second meeting was held to finalize the report. The present report was written on the basis of information in the literature and information presented at the meeting and the workshop.




Research Grants Index


Book Description