Detection of HER2 Gene Polymorphism in Breast Cancer: PCR Optimization Study

Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors Are Promising Therapeutic Tools for Cats with HER2-Positive Mammary Carcinoma

Feline mammary carcinoma (FMC) is a common neoplasia in cat, being HER2-positive the most prevalent subtype. In woman’s breast cancer, tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKi) are used as a therapeutic option, by blocking the phosphorylation of the HER2 tyrosine kinase domain. Moreover, clinical trials demonstrated that TKi produce synergistic antiproliferative effects in combination with mTOR inhibitors, overcoming resistance to therapy. Thus, to uncover new chemotherapeutic strategies for cats, the antiproliferative effects of two TKi (lapatinib and neratinib), and their combination with a mTOR inhibitor (rapamycin), were evaluated in FMC cell lines (CAT-M, FMCp and FMCm) and compared with a human breast cancer cell line (SkBR-3). Results revealed that both TKi induced antiproliferative effects in all feline cell lines, by blocking the phosphorylation of EGFR members and its downstream effectors. Furthermore, combined treatments with rapamycin presented synergetic antiproliferative effects. Additionally, the DNA sequence of the her2 TK domain (exons 18 to 20) was determined in 40 FMC tissue samples, and despite several mutations were found none of them were described as inducing resistance to therapy. Altogether, our results demonstrated that TKi and combined protocols may be useful in the treatment of cats with mammary carcinomas, and that TKi-resistant FMC are rare.

Dataset reporting detection of breast cancer-related HER2I655V polymorphism using allele-specific polymerase chain reaction

The dataset presented in this article is related to the research article entitled “Detection of HER2 Gene Polymorphism in Breast Cancer: PCR Optimization Study” (B.R. Budiarto, Desriani, 2016) [1] with some modification in primers used and in PCR optimization strategy to eliminate false-positive result that may occur in HER2^I655V polymorphism detection. Combining a new set of primers with PCR gradient, The allele-specific PCR well performs to detect all type of breast cancer-originated HER2^I655V genotypes. The validation of this method was done using Sanger DNA sequencing, offering an alternative tool for HER2^I655V polymorphism detection in another type of cancer.