Role of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor in the pro-proliferation activity of CD40-CD40L in AGS gastric cancer cells

Background: CD40 is a type α-membrane protein of the tumor necrosis factor receptor super-family, and CD40- induced responses may mediate growth and angiogenesis in carcinoma cells. Objectives: Define the effect of CD40 ligation on AGS gastric cancer cell line and the role of vascular endothelial growth factor/vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGF/VEGFR) signals in this process. Methods: We treated AGS cells with 1 μg/mL soluble CD40 ligand (sCD40L) with or without pre-incubation of either anti-VEGF mAb (MAB293) or VEGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor (SU5416). We determined the growth effects by cell counts or [3H]-thymidine incorporation assay and VEGF levels in cell-free supernatant using enzymelinked immunosorbent assays. Results: The engagement of CD40-induced AGS cells proliferation accompanied by a significant increase autocrine VEGF through PI3K activation (p <0.05), and exogenous VEGF alone had no effect on spontaneous cell growth. SU5416 with a concentration of 8 μM lead to a dramatic decrease in cell survival induced by sCD40L (p <0.05), whereas MAB293 did not have the similar effect (p >0.05). Conclusion: CD40-CD40L interaction promoted AGS cancer cell line proliferation through a VEGFR-dependent signal pathway in the presence of an internal autocrine loop.

CD40 mutant expression and its clinical significance to prognosis in gastric cancer patients

Background

We aimed to detect CD40 mutant expression and evaluate its clinical significance in gastric cancer.

Methods

CD40 mutant expression in 78 cases of gastric cancer tissues, 10 cases of normal gastric tissues, and 10 cases of gastric adenoma tissues by immunohistochemical test. Survival analyses were also performed.

Results

The positive CD40 mutant rate in gastric cancer was 55.1% (43/78). No positive CD40 mutant staining was observed in the normal gastric tissue or the gastric adenoma. CD40 mutants expression was significantly correlated with invasive depth, lymph metastasis, and TNM stage (P <0.05). Cases with negative CD40 mutant expression had a significantly longer median survival time than those with positive CD40 mutant expression (40 vs. 14 months, P <0.05). A lower death risk in negative CD40 mutant cases was observed comparing with positive CD40 mutant cases.

Conclusions

Positive CD40 mutant expression suggests a poorer prognosis of gastric cancer cases.

Autologous dendritic cell vaccine for estrogen receptor (ER)/progestin receptor (PR) double-negative breast cancer

PURPOSE

A wealth of preclinical information, as well as a modest amount of clinical information, indicates that dendritic cell vaccines have therapeutic potential. The aim of this work was to assess the immune response, disease progression, and post-treatment survival of ER/PR double-negative stage II/IIIA breast cancer patients vaccinated with autologous dendritic cells pulsed with autologous tumor lysates.

METHODS

Dendritic cell (DC) vaccines were generated from CD14+ precursors pulsed with autologous tumor lysates. DCs were matured with defined factors that induced surface marker and cytokine production. Individuals were immunized intradermally four times. Specific delayed type IV hypersensitivity (DTH) reaction, ex vivo cytokine production, and lymphocyte subsets were determined for the evaluation of the therapeutic efficiency. Overall survival and disease progression rates were analyzed using Kaplan–Meier curves and compared with those of contemporaneous patients who were not administered DC vaccines.

RESULTS

There were no unanticipated or serious adverse effects. DC vaccines elicited Th1 cytokine secretion and increased NK cells, CD8+ IFN-+ cells but decreased the percentage of CD3+ T cells and CD3+ HLA-DR+ T cells in the peripheral blood. Approximately 58% (18/31) of patients had a DTH-positive reaction. There was no difference in overall survival between the patients with and without DC vaccine. The 3-year progression-free survival was significantly prolonged: 76.9% versus 31.0% (with vs. without DC vaccine, p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Our findings strongly suggest that tumor lysate-pulsed DCs provide a standardized and widely applicable source of breast cancer antigens that are very effective in evoking anti-breast cancer immune responses.