Identification of Autoantibodies to Breast Cancer Antigens in Breast Cancer Patients

摘要

The purpose of this project is to identify breast cancer antigens and autologous antibodies that breast cancer patients make to those antigens. The scope of this project is the development of new targeted therapeutics to treat breast cancer. Screening over a million clones from a patient tumor cDNA expression library with autologous serum has identified over 440 possible positive proteins revealing autoantibodies to at least six SEREX antigens and at least 28 other proteins that represent novel antigens. PCR amplification of heavy and light chains for construction of a phage displayed scFv library from tumor indicates the presence of B cells in this patient s tumors. These results have significance for the development of new therapeutic targets and antibody therapies against those targets in patients with breast cancer.