Mammary Cell News Volume 2.21 | Jun 3 2010

Cleveland Clinic Researchers Develop Prototype Vaccine To Prevent Breast Cancer
A first-of-its-kind vaccine to prevent breast cancer has shown overwhelmingly favorable results in animal models, according to a study by researchers. [Press release from the Cleveland Clinic’s Lerner Research Institute discussing online prepublication in Nature Medicine]

Lifestyle and Genes Pose Separate Risks for Breast Cancer
The increased risk of breast cancer associated with a range of common genes is not affected by lifestyle factors – including use of hormone replacement therapy, age at birth of first child, obesity, and alcohol consumption – an Oxford-led study has found. [Press release from the University of Oxford discussing online prepublication in the Lancet]

Targeted Immunotherapy Shows Promise in Penn Medicine Studies for Metastatic Breast and Pancreatic Cancers
Early trials using targeted monoclonal antibodies in combination with existing therapies show promise in treating pancreatic cancer and metastatic breast cancer, according to research. [Press release from the University of Pennsylvania discussing research to be presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting]

MU Researchers Show Potential for New Cancer Detection and Therapy Method
Scientists explain a potentially new early cancer detection and treatment method using nanoparticles created at MU. [Press release from the University of Missouri discussing online prepublication in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences]

Stem Cell Researchers at UCLA Uncover Previously Unknown Pattern in DNA Methylation
The team of scientists discovered a relationship between DNA methylation and the positioning of nucleosomes. [Press release from the University of California, Los Angeles discussing online prepublication in Nature]

LABORATORY RESEARCH

An Autoimmune-Mediated Strategy for Prophylactic Breast Cancer Vaccination
Here researchers use several mouse breast cancer models to define a prototypic strategy for prophylactic cancer vaccination. [Nat Med]

Mst1 is an Interacting Protein that Mediates PHLPPs’ Induced Apoptosis
Here, researchers show that PHLPPs induce apoptosis in cancer cells independent of the known targets of PHLPPs. [Mol Cell]

Targeting the Transforming Growth Factor-Beta Pathway Inhibits Human Basal-Like Breast Cancer Metastasis
Transforming Growth Factor beta (TGF-beta) plays an important role in tumor invasion and metastasis. Researchers set out to investigate the possible clinical utility of TGF-beta antagonists in a human metastatic basal-like breast cancer model. [Mol Cell]

Breast Cancer Dormancy Can Be Maintained by Small Numbers of Micrometastases
In this study, researchers applied a probabilistic mathematical model to long-term follow-up studies of postresection patients to investigate the factors involved in mediating breast cancer dormancy. [Cancer Res]

Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor Signaling Dramatically Accelerates Tumorigenesis and Enhances Oncoprotein Translation in the Mouse Mammary Tumor Virus-Wnt-1 Mouse Model of Breast Cancer
To investigate the mechanisms involved in FGF/Wnt cooperation, researchers genetically engineered a model of inducible FGF receptor signaling in the context of the well-established mouse mammary tumor virus-Wnt-1 transgenic mouse. [Cancer Res]

p130Cas is an Essential Transducer Element in ErbB2 Transformation
Researchers demonstrate that p130Cas is necessary for ErbB2-dependent foci formation, anchorage-independent growth, and in vivo growth of orthotopic N202-1A tumors. [FASEB J]

Breast Cancer-Specific Mutations in CK1Epsilon Inhibit Wnt/Beta-Catenin and Activate the Wnt/Rac1/JNK and NFAT Pathways to Decrease Cell Adhesion and Promote Cell Migration
Because casein kinase 1 epsilon (CK1epsilon) is a crucial regulator of the Wnt signaling cascades, researchers determined how these CK1epsilon mutations interfere with the Wnt pathway and affect the behavior of epithelial breast cancer cell lines. [Breast Cancer Res]

TNFAlpha Up-Regulates SLUG Via the NF-KappaB/HIF1Alpha Axis, which Imparts Breast Cancer Cells with a Stem Cell-Like Phenotype
Here, researchers show that TNFalpha treatment of human breast cancer cells up-regulates SLUG with a dependency on canonical NF-B/HIF1alpha signaling, which is strongly enhanced by p53 inactivation. [J Cell Physiol]

CLINICAL RESEARCH

Gene – Environment Interactions in 7610 Women with Breast Cancer: Prospective Evidence From the Million Women Study
To test for evidence of gene-environment interactions, researchers compared genotypic relative risks for breast cancer across the other risk factors in a large UK prospective study. [Lancet]

Metastatic Behavior of Breast Cancer Subtypes
Breast cancer subtypes are associated with distinct patterns of metastatic spread with notable differences in survival after relapse. [ J Clin Oncol]

New Progression-Free Survival Data From Peregrine’s Bavituximab in Phase II Refractory Breast Cancer Trial to Be Presented at ASCO
Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced new median progression-free survival (PFS) data of 7.4 months from a Phase II trial evaluating bavituximab in combination with docetaxel in refractory patients with advanced breast cancer. [Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Press Release]

Eisai’s Investigational Agent Eribulin Mesylate Receives FDA Priority Review Status
Eisai Inc. announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted priority review status to the company’s New Drug Application for the investigational agent eribulin mesylate (“eribulin,” also known as E7389). [Eisai Inc. Press Release]

Clinical Data for Carl Zeiss Meditec’s INTRABEAM Targeted Intraoperative Radiotherapy System for Breast Cancer to be Presented at ASCO 2010
Carl Zeiss Meditec announced that the TARGIT-A (TARGeted Intra-operative radiation Therapy) multicenter clinical trial that used INTRABEAM® device, will be subject of a late-breaking presentation at the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s (ASCO’s) 46th Annual Meeting in Chicago, IL. [Carl Zeiss Meditec Press Release]

Treasury Releases New Guidance for Tax Credit in Affordable Care Act to Support Groundbreaking Biomedical Research
The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced the guidelines for applying for the new Therapeutic Discovery Project Program created by the Affordable Care Act. [Department of the Treasury, United States]

Third Time’s a Charm for COMPETES Bill
By a vote of 262 to 150, legislators authorized $84 billion for research, education, and innovation programs over the next 5 years at the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, and two Department of Commerce agencies – NOAA and NIST under the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act (HR 5116). [House of Representatives, United States]

Democrats: FDA Should Be Able to Recall Drugs
House Democrats repeatedly called for federal regulators to be given the authority to recall drugs. Pending legislation would grant that power to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for food, but not for drugs. [House of Representatives, United States]

Last Hurrah from National Academies Stem Cell Committee
Even though the National Institutes of Health issued stem cell guidelines last year, there’s still a need for guidelines for research that remains off-limits for U.S. government-funded labs. [National Academies’ National Research Council and Institute of Medicine, United States]

NIH Set to Tighten Financial Rules for Researchers
After a wave of financial scandals over the past few years involving biomedical researchers, the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) proposed far-reaching changes that would lead to tighter oversight of agency-funded extramural investigators and their institutions. [National Institutes of Health, United States]

Request for Information (RFI) on the NIH Plan to Develop the Genetic Testing Registry (NOT-OD-10-101) [National Institutes of Health, United States]

Administrative Supplements to Advance Special Translational Research Acceleration Projects on Immune Response Modifiers Currently Funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) (NOT-CA-10-025) [National Institutes of Health, United States]

Exceptions and Alternative Procedures Approved Under 21 CFR 640.120 [Food and Drug Administration, United States]

American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting 2010
June 4-8, 2010
Chicago, United States

Gordon Research Conference: Mammary Gland Biology
June 6-11, 2010
Lucca (Barga), Italy

12th Milan Breast Cancer Conference
June 16-18, 2010
Milan, Italy

International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) 8th Annual Meeting
June 16-19, 2010
San Francisco, United States

The 21st Meeting of the European Association for Cancer Research (EACR)
June 26-29, 2010
Oslo, Norway

United Kingdom National Stem Cell Network (UKNSCN) Third Annual Scientific Conference
July 12-14, 2010
Nottingham, United Kingdom

Stem Cells USA & Regenerative Medicine Congress 2010
September 13-15, 2010
Philadelphia, United States

15th Congress of the European Society of Surgical Oncology (ESSO)
September 15-17, 2010
Bordeaux, France

2010 World Cancer Congress
August 18-21, 2010
Shenzhen, China

35th European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress
October 8-12, 2010
Milan, Italy

International Symposium on Breast Cancer Prevention: Nutrition, Communications, Public Policy
October 18-19, 2010
West Lafayette, United States

6th National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Conference
November 7-10, 2010
Liverpool, United Kingdom