UBE2T mediates the stemness properties of breast cancer cells through the mTOR signaling pathway

Objectives:This study aimed to reveal the role and possible mechanism of the ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme 2T(UBE2T)in the biological activities of breast cancer stem cells(BCSCs).Methods:The specific protein and gene expression were quantified by Western blotting and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction,the proportion of BCSCs was examined by flow cytometry,and the self-renewal and proliferation of BCSCs were verified by serial sphere formation and soft agar.Results:Increasing expression of UBE2T was drastically found in breast cancer than that in adjacent tissues.Furthermore,UBE2T overexpression significantly increased the proportion of BCSCs in breast cancer cells and promoted their self-renewal and proliferation.Silent UBE2T exhibited the opposite functions.UBE2T increased the levels of the mammalian target of rapamycin and the phosphorylated mammalian target of rapamycin.Mammalian target of rapamycin(mTOR)inhibitor rapamycin inhibited the function of UBE2T in BCSCs.Conclusion:UBE2T plays a role in BCSCs through mTOR pathway and may suggest a novel therapeutic strategy for breast cancer.

Downregulation of wild-type p53 protein by HER-2/neu mediated PI3K pathway activation in human breast cancer cells: its effect on cell proliferation and implication for therapy

Overexpression and activation of HER-2/neu (also known as c-erbB-2), a proto-oncogene, was found in about 30% of human breast cancers, promoting cancer growth and making cancer cells resistant to chemo- and radio-therapy. Wild-type p53 is crucial in regulating cell growth and apoptosis and is found to be mutated or deleted in 60-70% of human cancers. And some cancers with a wild-type p53 do not have normal p53 function, suggesting that it is implicated in a complex process regulated by many factors. In the present study, we showed that the overexpression of HER-2/neu could decrease the amount of wild-type p53 protein via activating PI3K pathway, as well as inducing MDM2 nuclear translocation in MCF7 human breast cancer cells. Blockage of PI3K pathway with its specific inhibitor LY294002 caused Gl-S phase arrest, decreased cell growth rate and increased chemo- and radio-therapeutic sensitivity in MCF7 cells expressing wild-type p53. However, it did not increase the sensitivity to adriamycin in MDA-MB-453 breast cancer cells containing mutant p53. Our study indicates that blocking PI3K pathway activation mediated by HER-2/neu overexpression may be useful in the treatment of breast tumors with HER-2/neu overexpression and wild-type p53.

GENISTEIN INHIBITS EXPRESSION OF VASCULAR ENDOTHELIAL GROWTH FACTOR IN HER-2/NEU TRANSFECTED HUMAN BREAST CANCER MCF-7 CELLS

Objective： our previous studies have demonstrated that HER-2/neu gene expression in human breast cancer MCF-7 cells promotes angiogenesis in MCF-7 cells xenograft tumors, and genistein inhibits angiogenesis in MCF-7 cells with HER-2/neu expression xenograft tumors. Here, the effects of genistein on the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor （VEGF） in MCR-7 cells with HER-2/neu expression were further studied for exploring the molecular mechanism of anti-angiogenesis in HER-2/neu-overexpressing breast cancer by genistein. Methods： HER-2/neu-overexpressing MCF-7 cells （MCF-7/HER-2） were established by transfecting HEg-2/neu gene into HER-2/neu negative expression breast cancer MCF-7 cells. Immunocytochemical staining, western blot and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction （RT-PCR） were adopted to measure the expression of VEGF in MCF-7/HER-2 cells treated by genistein for 24, 48 and 72h. Results： HER-2/neu expression up-regulated VEGF mRNA and protein in MCF-7 cells, genistein decreased VEGF mRNA and protein level in MCF-7/HER-2 cells in a time-dependent manner. Conclusion： These results suggest that VEGF plays an important role in HER-2/neu gene expression promoted antiogenesis in breast cancer and genistein induced down-regulation of the expression of VEGF may be one of the molecular mechanisms of its anti-angiogenesis in HER-2/neu-overexpressing breast cancer.

Research of vitamin E succinate combined with paclitaxel on the apoptosis of Her-2 over-expressing breast cancer cells

Objective： The aim of this study was to detect apoptosis rates of Her-2 overexpression breast cancer cells, which were administrated with vitamin E succinate （VES） combined with paclitaxel at different dosages, or administrated alone; to discuss the mechanism of their actions. Methods： Using immunohistochemical method to detect Her-2 expression of MDA- MB-453 cells. Using TUNEL assay to detect apoptosis rates of MDA-MB-453 ceils, with the concentrations at 10, 20 mg/L of VES and 50, 100 nmol/L of paclitaxel, and also combined together for 24 or 48 h. Then compared apoptosis action of various combinations. Results： The expression rate of 95% Her-2 was interval （63.32%, 69.60%）; VES and paclitaxel both induced apoptosis of MDA-MB-453 cells, and it is dose to time dependence. It was strongest in apoptosis at 10 mg/L VES and 100 nmol/L paclitaxel in MDA-MB-453 cells 48 h later. Conclusion： VES and paclitaxel both induced apoptosis of MDA-MB-453 cells. It is stronger when the two drugs are administrated together. The mechanism is probably related to reduction of bcl-2 expression, so as to be more sensitive to paclitaxel. Synergistic effect is also possible for the two drugs influence tumor cells in different growing phases.

Impressive Objective Response to Nab-Paclitaxel plus Trastuzumab as Fifth Line Therapy in an Elderly HER-2 Positive Breast Cancer Patient

Background: Agent targeting HER-2 pathway plus chemotherapy has represented a major progress in the management of patients with breast cancer. However, the role of late-line treatment in heavily pretreated patients is still largely unclear. In the last decade, nab-paclitaxel has shown significant activity and good toxicity profile in metastatic breast cancer. Case Presentation: We report the case of a 76-year-old Caucasian woman with metastatic HER-2 positive ductal infiltrating breast carcinoma treated with a combination of weekly nab-paclitaxel and trastuzumab as fifth-line therapy. She had previously received first-line paclitaxel and trastuzumab, second-line vinorelbine and trastuzumab, third-line TDM1 and fourth-line oral capecitabine and lapatinib. Clinical and radiological staging showed progression at bone, skin and soft-tissue. The patient received weekly nab-paclitaxel plus trastuzumab. Massive objective response was clinically and PET documented which lasted 8 months. Tolerance to treatment was fairly good as well as cardiac safety. Conclusion: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of efficacy of nab-paclitaxel in combination with trastuzumab as fifth-line of treatment in a patient with metastatic HER-2 positive breast cancer.

Xianling Lianxia formula improves the efficacy of trastuzumab by enhancing NK cell-mediated ADCC in HER2-positive BC

Trastuzumab has improved survival rates in human epidermal growth factor receptor 2(HER2)-positive breast cancer(BC),but drug resistance leads to treatment failure.Natural killer(NK)cell-mediated antibody-dependent cell cytotoxicity(ADCC)represents an essential antitumor immune mechanism of trastuzumab.Traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)has been used for centuries to treat diseases because of its capacity to improve immune responses.Xianling Lianxia formula(XLLXF),based on the principle of“strengthening body and eliminating toxin”,exhibits a synergistic effect in the trastuzumab treatment of patients with HER2-positive BC.Notably,this synergistic effect of XLLXF was executed by enhancing NK cells and ADCC,as demonstrated through in vitro co-culture of NK cells and BC cells and in vivo intervention experiments.Mechanistically,the augmented impact of XLLXF on NK cells is linked to a decrease in cytokine inducible Src homology 2(SH2)containing protein(CISH)expression,which in turn activates the Janus kinase 1(JAK1)/signal transducer and activator of transcription 5(STAT5)pathway.Collectively,these findings suggested that XLLXF holds promise for enhancing NK cell function and sensitizing patients with HER2-positive BC to trastuzumab.

Dietary Daidzein Enhances Antiapoptotic Effect of 17β-Estradiol (E_2) on Breast Cancer MCF-7 Cells

Objective： To investigate whether dietary daidzein interact with endogenous 17β-Estradiol （E2） to give rise to additive or inhibitory effects on proliferation and apoptosis in breast cancer cells. Methods： Cell cycle distribution and apoptosis induction were analyzed by using flow cytometry when breast cancer cell lines MCF-7 were cotreated with daidzein （1, 5 μmol/L） and E2 （0.1-10 nmol/L） for 5 days. Whether daidzein could alter E2-modulated mRNA expression of estrogen receptor alpha （ERα）, estrogen receptor beta （ERI3） and ERβ-estrogen response element （ERE） dependent transcription was investigated by RT-PCR and luciferase induction assays. The effects of daidzein on E2-modulated expression of proapoptotic p53, bax and antiapoptotic bcl-2 at both mRNA and protein levels were also investigated by RT-PCR and Western blot. Results： Daidzein enhanced the antiapoptotic effect in an Ea dose-dependent manner, but had no effect on E2-induced proliferation. Daidzein antagonized E2-induced ERβ mRNA expression and ERβ-ERE dependent transcription. In addition, daidzein only antagonized E2-upregulated expression of p53 and bax, but had no effect on E2-upregulated expression of bcl-2. Conclusion： Daidzein enhances the antiapoptotic effect of E2 on breast cancer cells by inhibiting E2-mediated p53-bax proapoptotic pathway. These results suggest that dietary daidzein may enhance deleterious effect of endogenous E2 in hormone-dependent breast cancer.

Current status of PI3K-mTOR inhibition in hormone-receptor positive, HER2-negative breast cancer

Breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer in women and second only to lung cancer in terms of mortality. Among the three different BC subtypes, the oestrogen receptor positive represents nearly 70% of all cases and it is usually treated with anti-oestrogen drugs. However, the majority of hormone receptor positive metastatic BC patients develop resistance to anti-oestrogen treatments.The need for more down-stream therapies brought to the development of therapeutic strategies inhibiting the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway. Inhibitors of the mTOR have been tested in different clinical trials; everolimus has been Food and Drug Administration approved for the treatment of oestrogen receptor positive/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 negative BC patients in combination with exemestane in patients who have progressed to anastrozole or letrozole after the encouraging results coming from BOLERO-2 trial. Similar results were obtained by the TAMRAD investigatory study testing tamoxifen in combination with everolimus in advanced BC. This editorial focuses on the results from BOLERO-2, BOLERO 4 and BOLERO-6, which tested the clinical importance of mTOR inhibition. We comment also on the role of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-mTOR inhibition as reported in the BELLE-2 and BELLE-3 trials and the future directions for the inhibition of this tumour metabolic axis.

Tyrosine kinase inhibitors and human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 positive breast cancer

The body of evidence investigating human epidermal growth factor receptor-2(HER2)directed therapy in patients with breast cancer(BC)has been growing within the last decade.Recently,the use of tyrosine kinase inhibitors(TKIs)has been of particular interest in the treatment of human malignancies.This literature commentary is intended to highlight the most recent findings associated with the widely-studied TKI agents and their clinical significance in improving the outcomes of HER2 positive BC.

HER2-Specific Vaccines for HER2-Positive Breast Cancer Immunotherapy

Anti-human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2) immunization can be elicited by vaccination with DNA encoding the extra- or intra-cellular domain (ECD or ICD) of HER2, naked or encap-sulated in viral vectors. HER2-peptides derived from ECD or ICD of HER2, and HER2-pulsed dendritic cells (DCs) or engineered DCs expressing HER2, respectively. We performed a computer- based literature search which includes but is not limited to the following keywords: breast cancer, immunotherapy, HER2-peptide vaccine, HER2-DNA vaccine, HER-DC vaccine, HER2 vaccine, and HER2/neu, in PubMed, Medline, EMBO and Google Scholar;data from recently reported clinical trials were also included. Drawing upon this synthesis of literature, this work summarizes the de-velopment and current trend in experimental and clinical investigations in HER2-positive breast cancer using HER2-specific vaccine and immunotherapy, focusing especially on: (i) DNA-;(ii) peptide-;and (iii) DC-based vaccines. It addresses interventions that have been applied to overcome immunotolerance thereby to improve treatment outcomes. These include blocking the inhibitory cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated protein-4 (CTLA-4), which is expressed at high levels by regulatory T (Treg) cells, or complete Treg depletion to improve T-cell activation. Moreover, modulatory interventions can provide further improvement in the efficacy of HER2-specific vaccine. The interventions include the use of immunogenic adjuvants such as cytokines interleukin-12 (IL-12), tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), the use of Toll-like receptor (TLR) ligands and tetanus toxin’s universal epitopes such as the CD4+ help T (Th)-epitope P30, and the use of either chimeric or heterogenous xenogeneic HER2. Combining active HER2-vaccination with adoptive trastuzumab antibody immunotherapy is likely to increase the effectiveness of each approach alone. The development of effective HER2-vaccines for breast cancer remains a critical challenge. Though these novel interventions seem promising, further investigation is still needed since the results are preliminary. Furthermore, the review discusses the challenges and future perspectives in HER2-vaccine research and development.

Vaccinia-related kinase 2 variants differentially affect breast cancer growth by regulating kinase activity

Genetic information is transcribed from genomic DNA to mRNA,which is then translated into threedimensional proteins.mRNAs can undergo various post-transcriptional modifications,including RNA editing that alters mRNA sequences,ultimately affecting protein function.In this study,RNA editing was identified at the 499th base(c.499)of human vaccinia-related kinase 2(VRK2).This RNA editing changes the amino acid in the catalytic domain of VRK2 from isoleucine(with adenine base)to valine(with guanine base).Isoleucine-containing VRK2 has higher kinase activity than the valine-containing VRK2,which leads to an increase in tumor cell proliferation.Earlier we reported that VRK2 directly interacts with dystrobrevin-binding protein(dysbindin)and results in reducing its stability.Herein,we demonstrate that isoleucine-containing VRK2 decreases the level of dysbindin than valinecontaining VRK2.Dysbindin interacts with cyclin D and thereby regulates its expression and function.The reduction in the level of dysbindin by isoleucine-containing VRK2 further enhances the cyclin D expression,resulting in increased tumor growth and reduction in survival rates.It has also been observed that in patient samples,VRK2 level was elevated in breast cancer tissue compared to normal breast tissue.Additionally,the isoleucine form of VRK2 exhibited a greater increase in breast cancer tissue.Therefore,it is concluded that VRK2,especially dependent on the 167th variant amino acid,can be one of the indexes of tumor progression and proliferation.

The PI3K/Akt/GSK-3β/ROS/eIF2B pathway promotes breast cancer growth and metastasis via suppression of NK cell cytotoxicity and tumor cell susceptibility

Objective: To examine the effect of pSer9-GSK-3β on breast cancer and to determine whether the underlying metabolic and immunological mechanism is associated with ROS/eIF2B and natural killer(NK) cells.Methods: We employed TWS119 to inactivate GSK-3β by phosphorylating Ser9 and explored its effect on breast cancer and NK cells. The expression of GSK-3β, natural killer group 2 member D(NKG2D) ligands, eIF2B was quantified by PCR and Western blot. We measured intracellular reactive oxygen species(ROS) and mitochondrial ROS using DCFH-DA and MitoSOX^(TM) probe,respectively, and conducted quantitative analysis of cellular respiration on 4T1 cells with mitochondrial respiratory chain complex Ⅰ/Ⅲ kits.Results: Our investigation revealed that TWS119 downregulated NKG2D ligands(H60 a and Rae1), suppressed the cytotoxicity of NK cells, and promoted the migration of 4T1 murine breast cancer cells. Nevertheless, LY290042, which attenuates p-GSK-3β formation by inhibiting the PI3K/Akt pathway, reversed these effects. We also found that higher expression of p Ser9-GSK-3β induced higher levels of ROS, and observed that abnormality of mitochondrial respiratory chain complex Ⅰ/Ⅲ function induced the dysfunction of GSK-3β-induced electron transport chain, naturally disturbing the ROS level. In addition, the expression of NOX3 and NOX4 was significantly up-regulated, which affected the generation of ROS and associated with the metastasis of breast cancer. Furthermore, we found that the expression of pSer535-eIF2B promoted the expression of NKG2D ligands(Mult-1 and Rae1) following by expression of pSer9-GSK-3β and generation of ROS.Conclusions: The PI3K/Akt/GSK-3β/ROS/eIF2B pathway could regulate NK cell activity and sensitivity of tumor cells to NK cells,which resulted in breast cancer growth and lung metastasis. Thus, GSK-3β is a promising target of anti-tumor therapy.

CORRELATION BETWEEN SERUM HER-2 ONCOPROTEIN AND PATIENTS WITH BREAST CANCER

To detect serum HER-2 oncoprotein levels in patients with operable and metastatic breast cancers, and to study the correlations between serum HER-2 level and lymph node status as well as other clinical parameters. Methods A total of 120 women were studied consisting of 10 healthy volunteers, 31 benign breast disease, 53 operable breast cancer, and 26 metastatic breast cancer patients. The levels of serum HER-2 were measured using an enzyme-liked im-munosorbent assay (ELISA). Results The mean serum HER-2 levels were 9.6 ± 1.5 ng/mL in healthy volunteers, 11.9 ± 1.6 ng/mL in benign breast disease, 13.2 ± 4.2 ng/mL in operable breast cancer, and 30.5 ± 30.8 ng/mL in metastatic breast cancer patients. The former is much lower than the latter three (P = 0.02, 0.001, 0.03, respectively). If using 15 ng/mL as a normal baseline, elevated serum HER-2 levels were observed in none of the healthy volunteers as well as patients with benign disease, but in 18.9% (10/53) operable breast cancer patients and 61.5% (16/26) metastatic patients. In patients with operable breast cancer, there was a positive correlation between serum concentrations of HER-2 and the size of primary tumor (P < 0.05), whereas there was no correlation between serum concentration and axillary lymph node or estrogen receptor status. In patients with metastatic dise-ase, there was no correlation with site of metastases (P > 0.05). Conclusion Serum HER-2 level was strongly correlated with tumor loads and clinical stages, thus acting as a promising predictor of cancer recurrence in breast cancer patients.

HIF-2α regulates CD44 to promote cancer stem cell activation in triple-negative breast cancer via PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling

BACKGROUND Breast cancer is a common malignant tumor that seriously threatens women’s health.Breast cancer stem cell(CSC)-like cell population may be the main factor for breast cancer metastasis.Therefore,targeted therapy for CSCs has great potential significance.Hypoxia-inducible factor is a transcription factor widely expressed in tumors.Studies have shown that down-regulation of the hypoxia signaling pathway inhibits tumor stem cell self-renewal and increases the sensitivity of stem cells to radiotherapy and chemotherapy mediated by hypoxiainducible factor-2α(HIF-2α).However,the specific mechanism remains unclear and further research is necessary.AIM To investigate the effect of HIF-2αdown-regulation on stem cell markers,microsphere formation,and apoptosis in breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231 under hypoxia and its possible mechanism.METHODS Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of HIF-2αand CD44 in triple-negative breast cancer(TNBC)and non-TNBC tissues.Double-labeling immunofluorescence was applied to detect the co-expression of HIF-2αand CD44 in MDA-MB-231 cells and MCF-7 cells.HIF-2αwas silenced by RNA interference,and the expression of CD44 and transfection efficiency were detected by real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR.Further,flow cytometry,TdT-mediated X-dUTP nick end labeling,and mammosphere formation assays were used to evaluate the effect of HIF-2αon CSCs and apoptosis.The possible mechanisms were analyzed by Western blot.RESULTS The results of immunohistochemistry showed that HIF-2αwas highly expressed in both TNBC and non-TNBC,while the expression of CD44 in different molecular types of breast cancer cells was different.In in vitro experiments,it was found that HIF-2αand CD44 were expressed almost in the same cell.Compared with hypoxia+negative-sequence control,HIF-2αsmall interfering ribonucleic acid transfection can lower the expression of HIF-2αand CD44 mRNA(P<0.05),increase the percentage of apoptotic cells(P<0.05),and resulted in a reduction of CD44+/CD24−population(P<0.05)and mammosphere formation(P<0.05)in hypoxic MDA-MB-231 cells.Western blot analysis revealed that phosphorylated protein-serine-threonine kinase(p-AKT)and phosphorylated mammalian target of rapamycin(p-mTOR)levels in MDA-MB-231 decreased significantly after HIF-2αsilencing(P<0.05).CONCLUSION Down-regulation of HIF-2αexpression can inhibit the stemness of human breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells and promote apoptosis,and its mechanism may be related to the CD44/phosphoinosmde-3-kinase/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway.

Comparison of Fluorescence in situ Hybridization and Immunohistochemistry for Assessment of HER-2 Status in Breast Cancer Patients

The accurate assessment ofa proto-oncogene, human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 gene （HER-2）, is extremely important for the therapy and prognosis of breast cancer. Currently, immunohistochemistry （IHC） is the method widely used for the detection of HER-2 protein. Fluorescence in situ hybridization （FISH） has been suggested to be a golden standard assay for HER-2 amplification. This study examined the expression and amplification of HER-2 in paraffin-embedded sections of breast cancer tissues, and compared the two methods on the measurement of HER-2 status. HER-2 gene and protein were determined in breast cancer samples from 52 Chinese women by FISH and IHC respectively. The findings indicated that the HER-2 gene amplification was found in 18 cases （34.6%） by FISH and the HER-2 protein over-expression （score 3＋） in 15 cases （28.8%） by IHC. hnmunohistochemically, 28.6% of the cases scored as 2＋ and 93.3% of the cases scored as 3＋ were HER-2-positive by FISH. There was a significant correlation between the HER-2 gene amplification and HER-2 protein over-expression in breast cancer （P〈0.005）. No correlation was noted between the HER-2 gene amplification and any of the clinicopathological parameters examined, including age, menopausal status, menarche age, tumor size, histological tumor type, histological grade, lymph node status, and the expression of ER and PR. It was concluded that the detection of HER-2 gene amplification in breast cancer by FISH is valuable and can compare with HER-2 protein detection by IHC.

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition status of circulating tumor cells in breast cancer and its clinical relevance

Objective:Circulating tumor cells(CTCs)play a critical role in cancer metastasis,but their prevalence and significance remain unclear.This study attempted to track the epithelial-mesenchymal transition(EMT)status of CTCs in breast cancer patients and investigate their clinical relevance.Methods:In this study,the established negFACS-IF:E/M platform was applied to isolate rare CTCs and characterize their EMT status in breast cancer.A total of 89 breast cancer patients were recruited,including stage 0–III(n=60)and late stage(n=29)cases.Results:Using the negFACS-IF:E/M platform,it was found that in human epidermal growth factor receptor 2(HER2)+patients,mesenchymal CTCs usually exhibited a high percentage of HER2+cells.Stage IV breast cancer patients had considerably more CTCs than stage 0–III patients.Among stage 0–III breast cancers,the HER2 subtype included a significantly higher percentage of mesenchymal and biphenotypic(epithelial and mesenchymal)CTCs than the luminal A or B subtypes.Among stage IV patients,CTCs were predominantly epithelial in cases with local recurrence and were more mesenchymal in cases with distant metastasis.By applying a support vector machine(SVM)algorithm,the EMT status of CTCs could distinguish between breast cancer cases with metastasis/local recurrence and those without recurrence.Conclusions:The negFACS-IF:E/M platform provides a flexible and generally acceptable method for the highly sensitive and specific detection of CTCs and their EMT traits in breast cancer.This study demonstrated that the EMT status of CTCs had high clinical relevance in breast cancer,especially in predicting the distant metastasis or local recurrence of breast cancer.

HER-2 expression after neoadjuvant chemotherapy of the breast cancers

Objective:The aim of this study was to study changes of HER-2 expression after neoadjuvant chemotherapy in the breast cancer cases.Methods:One hundred and thirty-seven female patients with primary breast cancers,who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy,underwent core needle puncture and Mammotome biopsy before chemotherapy,and the biopsy results were used as the basis of histological diagnosis,fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was performed to test HER2 status of tumor tissues before and after chemotherapy.All patients underwent FEC,TE,or AC neoadjuvant chemotherapy of 2-6 cycles before surgery.Results:Twenty-two patients were positive according to FISH test among 137 preoperative patients,8 patients achieved pathological complete remission after chemotherapy (three HER-2 positive patients and five negative patients),91 patients achieved partial remission,24 patients were stable,and 14 cases were invalid.Twenty-two patients were positive according to FISH test (8 patients with pathological complete remission did not undergo test),and positive patients still expressed positively after chemotherapy before neoadjuvant chemotherapy.Three negative patients were converted to be positive,and changes before and after chemotherapy had no statistical difference (P>0.05).Conclusion:Neoadjuvant chemotherapy makes no influence on patients with HER-2 positive expression,while patients with negative expression can be converted to be positive,but without significant difference.

HER-2,P53 and Hormonal Receptors Protein Expression as Predictive Factors in Breast Cancer Prognosis

OBJECTIVE Breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease with vari-able biological and clinical characteristics.We conducted a studyto evaluate P53,HER-2/neu and hormonal receptor expression aspredictors of prognosis in breast cancer.METHODS In a prospective study,we recruited 81 consecutivepatients with primary operable breast cancer who were treatedwith mastectomy followed by locoregional radiotherapy or che-motherapy and studied the presence of P53,HER-2/neu andhormonal receptors (ER/PR) expression in tumor tissues by im-munohistochemical staining.Associations between these markersexpression and clinical outcomes,including local and regionalrecurrence and metastasis were evaluated.Statistical analysis wasperformed with the SPSS software.RESULTS The mean time of follow-up was (47.3±4.6) months.Expression of P53,HER-2/neu,Estrogen receptors and progester-one receptors were observed in 31.1%,38.5%,31.8% and 51.7% ofthe patients,respectively.P53,HER-2/neu and Negative ER statuswere potent predictors of local-regional recurrence (P=0.034,0.038,0.044,respectively).Also HER-2/neu,Negative ER and NegativePR status were strong predictors of metastasis (P=0.001,0.042,0.054,respectively).CONCLUSION P53 and HER-2/neu expression and also steroidreceptors status (ER/PR status) have an important role in predict-ing the outcome of breast cancer and thus may be of value in se-lecting suitable therapeutic strategy and determining prognosis inthese patients.

Why natural killer cells in triple negative breast cancer?

The triple-negative subtype of breast cancer(TNBC)has the bleakest prognosis,owing to its lack of either hormone receptor as well as human epidermal growth factor receptor 2.Henceforth,immunotherapy has emerged as the front-runner for TNBC treatment,which avoids potentially damaging chemotherapeutics.However,despite its documented association with aggressive side effects and developed resistance,immune checkpoint blockade continues to dominate the TNBC immunotherapy scene.These immune checkpoint blockade drawbacks necessitate the exploration of other immunotherapeutic methods that would expand options for TNBC patients.One such method is the exploitation and recruitment of natural killer cells,which by harnessing the innate rather than adaptive immune system could potentially circumvent the downsides of immune checkpoint blockade.In this review,the authors will elucidate the advantageousness of natural killer cell-based immuno-oncology in TNBC as well as demonstrate the need to more extensively research such therapies in the future.

Regulation of mitochondrial carrier SLC25A13 on breast cancer cell cycle in vitro

Objective·To investigate the role of mitochondrial solute carrier family 25 member 13(SLC25A13)on breast cancer development.Methods·SLC25A13 mRNA and protein expressions in invasive breast cancer tissues and normal breast tissues were from The Cancer Genome Atlas(TCGA)breast cancer dataset.Survival analysis was conducted online by Kaplan-Meier software.MCF-7 cell line was used for in vitro cell assay.Knockdown of SLC25A13 and sirtuin 2(SIRT2)were conducted by siRNA transfection.Cell viability was measured with trypan blue exclusion.Cell cycle arrest was determined by flow cytometry.The mRNA expression of SLC25A13 and P27 were detected by quantitative PCR.The protein level of SLC25A13,P27 and SIRT2 were detected by Western blotting.Protein half-life of P27 was assessed by Western blotting after cycloheximide treatment.Results·SLC25A13 was up-regulated in invasive breast cancer tissues.High expression of SLC25A13 correlated with poor overall survival and breast cancer recurrence.SLC25A13 knockdown inhibited MCF-7 cell cycle progression.P27 and SIRT2 both accumulated after SLC25A13 knockdown.P27 accumulation resulted from prolonged protein half-life.Knockdown of SIRT2 restored cell cycle arrest as well as P27 accumulation caused by SLC25A13 silencing.Conclusion·High expression of SLC25A13 may promote cell cycle progression via SIRT2 in breast cancer development.