BACKGROUND HER2 is a membrane receptor whose overexpression is strongly associated with poor prognosis in breast carcinomas. Inhibition of HER2 activity can reduce tumor growth, which led to the development of Herceptin, an anti-HER2 monoclonal antibody (MAb) that is already in clinical use. However, the objective response rate to Herceptin monotherapy is quite low. HER2 activity can also be in...

Adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATL) is one of the peripheral T-cell malignant neoplasms strongly associated with human T-cell leukemia virus type-I (HTLV-I). Although the viral transactivator protein Tax has been proposed to play a critical role in leukemogeneis, additional cellular events are required for the development of ATL. One of the genetic events of the disease is inactivation of tumo...

We studied the expression of the interleukin-2 (IL-2) receptor and the proliferative response to exogenous IL-2 of peripheral blood leukemic cells from patients with adult T cell leukemia (ATL) in order to see whether IL-2 receptor expressed on ATL cells is different from normal IL-2 receptor and whether it plays a role in the neoplastic growth in ATL. Peripheral blood leukemic cells from 42 pa...

Objective(s): Here, a reporter cell line containing two reporter vectors were developed, in order to monitor the Human T-Lymphotropic Virus type1(HTLV-1) infectivity and the cell viability simultaneously. Materials and Methods: The reporter cell line was constructed by stably transfected baby hamster's kidney cell line (BHK-21), with the genomes expressing two different reporters in separate pl...

Mycosis fungoides is a low-grade cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. Early treatment often involves the use of topical chemotherapy such as mechlorethamine or carmustine although single-agent oral chemotherapy with alkylators is common for advanced disease. Recently, in a Phase I study of the new alkylating agent temozolomide, two mycosis fungoides patients experienced a complete response. The mechanism...

Class I MHC molecules associated with R 2-microglobulin (a2m) are peptide-binding proteins on the surface of nearly all nucleated cells and present antigens to CTL (1). HLA class I molecules may also associate with other surface proteins (2-4) and exert a signal-transducing function in these aggregates. The genes coding for the MHC molecules are the most polymorphic loci known in higher vertebr...

Mycosis fungoides is a low-grade cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. Early treatment often involves the use of topical chemotherapy such as mechlorethamine or carmustine although single-agent oral chemotherapy with alkylators is common for advanced disease. Recently, in a Phase I study of the new alkylating agent temozolomide, two mycosis fungoides patients experienced a complete response. The mechanism...

Ganglioside expression on adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) and human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I (HTLVI)-infected cells was determined by using a panel ofmonoclonal antibodies. ATL lines and HTLV-I-infected cells specifically expressed GD2. Leukemia cells from ATL patients generally expressed low levels of GD2 but the percentage of GD2+ cells increased up to 40-70% after in vitro culture in the...