HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints/Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Keir, M. Articles by Kearney, P. P. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Keir, M. Articles by Kearney, P. P.

Sensitivity of c-erbB Positive Cells to a Ligand Toxin and Its Utility in Purging Breast Cancer Cells from Peripheral Blood Stem Cell (PBSC) Collections

^a Haematology Research Laboratory, St. Vincent's Hospital, Sydney, NSW, Australia;
^b Cooperative Research Center for BioPharmaceuticals, Sydney, NSW, Australia

Key Words. Purging • PBSC • Breast cancer • Ligand toxin

P. Kearney, MBA, Ph.D., Tumour Biology Division, ActiveBiotech Research AB, P.O. Box 724, SE-22007 Lund, Sweden. Telephone: 46-46-191268; Fax: 46-46-191134; e-mail: phil.kearney{at}activebiotech.com

Autografting following high-dose conditioning is being increasingly offered to breast cancer sufferers, without due regard to the reinfusion of malignant cells. We sought to determine if a breast cancer cell line could be successfully purged from peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) harvests using a ligand-toxin molecule directed to heregulin-activated erbB receptors. Initial experiments demonstrated no reduction in hemopoietic colony-forming ability in the presence of ligand toxin (2 nM). Breast cancer cell lines which demonstrated differing sensitivities to the ligand toxin were subsequently seeded into stem cell collections and incubated with 2 nM ligand-toxin. One cell line, ZR-75-1, was completely sensitive to the ligand toxin in this mixture; a second, MDB-MA-361, was more profoundly sensitive to the ligand toxin in the presence of the PBSC, whereas a third was unaffected by the toxin. These results suggest purging may indeed be possible in the PBSC of breast cancer patients, but the parameters that define sensitivity are as yet unknown.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				C. M. Thirukkumaran, J. M. Luider, D. A. Stewart, T. Cheng, S. M. Lupichuk, M. J. Nodwell, J. A. Russell, I. A. Auer, and D. G. Morris Reovirus oncolysis as a novel purging strategy for autologous stem cell transplantation Blood, July 1, 2003; 102(1): 377 - 387. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]