Malignancy/cancer breast tumors

Several lines of evidence indicate that neoplastic cells per se are the main source of extracellular thiol proteinase activity. Recent studies (39) have shown that malignant human breast tumors maintained in organ culture secrete high levels of a cathepsin B-like enzyme into the culture medium. Moreover high levels of cathepsin B-like enzyme are present in the serum of patients with a wide variety of cancers, and these levels decrease when the cancer tissue is removed or treated with therapeutic agents (64, 65). Cathepsin B-like enzyme from cultured cells of malignant tumors (39,66) possesses enzymic properties similar to those of cathepsin B with respect to specificity, affinity, and pH optima for synthetic substrates. It hydrolyzes Bz-Arg-Arg-2-naphthylamide and is inhibited by leupeptin. However, the tumor enzyme is much more stable than cathepsin B to inactivation above pH 7. It has a molecular weight of about 33,000-35,000. The distribution of cathepsin B-like activity was determined in fractions of control and neoplastic epithelial cells from human ectocervix (66). The activity is present mainly in the mitochondrial and lysosomal fractions of normal cells but mainly in the plasma membranes and nuclei of neoplastic cells. 

Altmannsberger M, Dirk T, Droese M, Weber K, Osborn M (1986) Keratin polypeptide distribu tion in benign and malignant breast tumors subdivision of ductal carcinomas using monoclo nal antibodies. Virchows Arch B Cell Pathol Incl Mol Pathol 51(3) 265 275 Assefnia S, Jones LP, Torre KM, Furth PA (2006) Expression of p63 in a mouse model of Brcal mutation related breast cancer. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, Washington, DC (Meeting Abstracts)... 

Tokunaga, M., Norman, J.E., Jr, Asano, M., Tokuoka, S., Ezaki, H., NishimORI, I., AND TSUJI, Y. (1979). Malignant breast tumors among atomic bomb survivors, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, 1950-1974, J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 62,1347. 

Blood plasma proteins from patients with malignant breast tumors differ from proteins from healthy people in their solubility in the presence of various polymers. When the polymers dex-tran and poly(ethylene glycol) are dissolved in water, a two-phase mixture is formed. When plasma proteins are added, they distribute themselves differently between the two phases. The distribution coefficient (K) for any substance is defined as K = [concentration of the substance in phase A]/[concentration of the substance in phase B]. Proteins from healthy people have a mean distribution coefficient of 0.75 with a standard deviation of 0.07. For cancer victims the mean is 0.92 with a standard deviation of 0.11. 

Epirubicin EU and osteogenic sarcomas, pediatric malignancies, and adult solid tumors (particularly lung and breast cancers) Breast, ovarian, gastric, and... 

The patient s symptoms are most likely due to her vincristine therapy. Vinca alkaloids exert antineoplastic effects by binding to tubulin and thereby inhibiting assembly of microtubules. This results in the dissolution of the mitotic spindle apparatus, and cell arrest occurs in the mitosis (M) phase of the cell cycle. Vinca alkaloids are used for a variety of hematologic malignancies and solid tumors, such as lung, testicular, and breast cancers. The most common vinca alkaloids include vincristine, vinblastine, and vinorelbine. 

Tse GM, Lui PG, Vong JS, et al. Increased epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expression in malignant mammary phyllodes tumors. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2009 114 441-448. 

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