Identification of Auto-Antibodies 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. The major findings of this project are the methods developed for successful extraction of mRNA from breast tumor specimens and synthesis of a cDNA library that can be expressed as protein fragments on the surface of phage. Future plans include identifying tumor associated antigens via binding of protein fragments to antibodies found in patient serum and characterization of the antibodies identified. The identification of new breast cancer antigens and characterization and replication of autologous antibodies in the laboratory using phage display represent significant and novel information for the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer.