HER-2 receptors

Trastuzumab (Herceptin) Humanized antibody, IgGi ErbB2/Her-2 Receptor down-regulation Breast cancer... 

Pietras RJ, Pegram MD, Finn RS, et al. Remission of human breast cancer xenografts on therapy with humanized monoclonal antibody to HER-2 receptor and DNA-reactive drugs. Oncogene 1998 17 2235-2249. 

The overexpression of HER-2 protein in cancer cells makes it an ideal target for vaccines and other targeting strategies. Vaccines optimized to induce maximum T cell immunity to HER-2 may lead to potent in vivo antitumor immunity. HER-2 protein has been evaluated as a potential target for the development of cancer vaccines because preexistent T cell and antibody responses to HER-2 have been described in breast cancer patients (Disis and Cheever, 1996). In other words, breast cancer patients have preexisting immunity to the HER-2 receptor in the form of elevated antibody titers and T cell immunity. Elevated anti-HER-2 T cell responses have been demonstrated in breast and ovarian cancer patients following immunization with peptides derived from the HER-2 protein (Disis et al., 1999). However, whether peptide-specific T cell responses can be translated to antitumor immunity has yet to be established. 

The identification of targets with complete or nearly complete specificity is a key challenge. Herceptin , used in breast cancer treatment, binds the Her-2 receptor for epidermal growth factor (EGF). This receptor is present only in a subset of breast cancer patients, providing the specificity... 

Goren D, Horowitz AT, Zalipsky S, et al Targeting of stealth hposomes to erbB-2 (Her/2) receptor in vitro and in vivo studies BR J Cancer 74 1749-1756, 1996... 

It is produced by genetically transformed CHO cells. Trastuzumab (Herceptin ) blocks the human growth factor 2 (HER-2) receptor which is overexpressed in about 25% of breast cancer patients. The HER-2 receptor also... 

---