HER2 Support Group Forums - View Single Post - her2 breast cancer cured (when transplanted in mice) using triple targetted therapy

AlaskaAngel · 08-27-2008, 12:39 PM

In reading the previous posts there were some that quite naturally express disappointment that a clinical trial might be limited to the newly diagnosed, and that brought up a consideration about so many of the results of non-human lab research:

STUDY INFO:

A clinical study using drug combinations in newly diagnosed patients with HER-2 positive breast cancer will start soon under the direction of physicians at BCM's BreastCenter, said Osborne.

"We are very excited to see if our laboratory results can be translated to patients with the more aggressive types of breast cancer," he said.

Methods: Mice carrying xenograft tumors of HER2-overexpressing MCF7/HER2-18 (HER2-transfected) or BT474 (HER2-amplified) cells were treated with estrogen supplementation or estrogen withdrawal, alone or combined with tamoxifen. One to three HER inhibitors (pertuzumab, trastuzumab, or gefitinib) could also be added (n ?8 mice per group).

LANI's comment:

"One of the big differences between that abstract and this article is that in the study cited in the ASCO abstract they used not only MCF7 cells transfected with her2 (an artificial construct which may not have any similarity to any naturally occuring tumor) but also BT474
a tumor which naturally occured in the poor person whose cell line was propagated and perpetuated which is her amplified (eg FISH+) and ER+. This human breast cancer cell line was implanted into the rodent,so...

This is as close as it gets to simulating her2+ER+ breast cancer as it occurs in humans."

ALASKAANGEL: This would be wonderful for all newly diagnosed patients. But unless the mice have been treated previously or simultaneously with the standard chemotherapy regimens that patients get, how can we know how for sure how this will work for many of us?

08-27-2008, 12:39 PM	#48
AlaskaAngel Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Alaska Posts: 2,018	Applicability of treatment In reading the previous posts there were some that quite naturally express disappointment that a clinical trial might be limited to the newly diagnosed, and that brought up a consideration about so many of the results of non-human lab research: STUDY INFO: A clinical study using drug combinations in newly diagnosed patients with HER-2 positive breast cancer will start soon under the direction of physicians at BCM's BreastCenter, said Osborne. "We are very excited to see if our laboratory results can be translated to patients with the more aggressive types of breast cancer," he said. Methods: Mice carrying xenograft tumors of HER2-overexpressing MCF7/HER2-18 (HER2-transfected) or BT474 (HER2-amplified) cells were treated with estrogen supplementation or estrogen withdrawal, alone or combined with tamoxifen. One to three HER inhibitors (pertuzumab, trastuzumab, or gefitinib) could also be added (n ?8 mice per group). LANI's comment: "One of the big differences between that abstract and this article is that in the study cited in the ASCO abstract they used not only MCF7 cells transfected with her2 (an artificial construct which may not have any similarity to any naturally occuring tumor) but also BT474 a tumor which naturally occured in the poor person whose cell line was propagated and perpetuated which is her amplified (eg FISH+) and ER+. This human breast cancer cell line was implanted into the rodent,so... This is as close as it gets to simulating her2+ER+ breast cancer as it occurs in humans." ALASKAANGEL: This would be wonderful for all newly diagnosed patients. But unless the mice have been treated previously or simultaneously with the standard chemotherapy regimens that patients get, how can we know how for sure how this will work for many of us?