471 research outputs found
Pilot phase III immunotherapy study in early-stage breast cancer patients using oxidized mannan-MUC1 [ISRCTN71711835]
INTRODUCTION: Mucin 1 (MUC1) is a high molecular weight glycoprotein overexpressed on adenocarcinoma cells and is a target for immunotherapy protocols. To date, clinical trials against MUC1 have included advanced cancer patients. Herein, we report a trial using early stage breast cancer patients and injection of oxidized mannan-MUC1. METHOD: In a randomized, double-blind study, 31 patients with stage II breast cancer and with no evidence of disease received subcutaneous injections of either placebo or oxidized mannan-MUC1, to immunize against MUC1 and prevent cancer reoccurrence/metastases. Twenty-eight patients received the full course of injections of either oxidized mannan-MUC1 or placebo. Survival and immunological assays were assessed. RESULTS: After more than 5.5 years had elapsed since the last patient began treatment (8.5 years from the start of treatment of the first patient), the recurrence rate in patients receiving the placebo was 27% (4/15; the expected rate of recurrence in stage II breast cancer); those receiving immunotherapy had no recurrences (0/16), and this finding was statistically significant (P = 0.0292). Of the patients receiving oxidized mannan-MUC1, nine out of 13 had measurable antibodies to MUC1 and four out of 10 had MUC1-specific T cell responses; none of the placebo-treated patients exhibited an immune response to MUC1. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that, in early breast cancer, MUC1 immunotherapy is beneficial, and that a larger phase III study should be undertaken
Ytterbium-doped tantalum pentoxide waveguides: spectroscopy for compact waveguide lasers
Ytterbium-doped materials are common gain media in high-performance laser systems. In this work, the first spectroscopic investigation of ytterbium-doped tantalum pentoxide (Yb:Ta2O5) for compact waveguide laser applications is presented
Investigating factors affecting students’ performance to PISA Science items
The present paper aims to investigate, on the one hand, the extent to which PISA Science items validly assess the knowledge and skills of 15 year-old Greek students, while, on the other hand, to examine the effect of the following factors: student’s gender, scientific processes and contexts (situations) on the students’ performance in these PISA items. The research used paper-and-pencil test with published PISA Science items, conducted individual semi-structured interviews with 15 year-old students and finally marked the students’ responses, according to the PISA marking guide. Τhe basic finding resulting from the data analysis is that the paper-and-pencil test with the PISA Science items does not tend, unlike the interview, to effectively record the Greek students’ Science knowledge and skills. Moreover, the analysis revealed that the performance of students in the PISA Science items (paper-and-pencil test and interview) tend to be independent of the student’s gender and depend on the context in which the knowledge and processes are assessed. Additionally, the possible correlation between the students’ performance and the factor of scientific processes seems to depend on the setting in which the students provide their responses (paper-and-pencil test or interview)
Fluence and polarisation dependence of GaAs based Lateral Photo-Dember terahertz emitters
We characterise THz output of lateral photo-Dember (LPD) emitters based on semi-insulating (SI), unannealed and annealed low temperature grown (LTG) GaAs. Saturation of THz pulse power with optical fluence is observed, with unannealed LTG GaAs showing highest saturation fluence at 1.1 ± 0.1 mJ cm-2. SI-GaAs LPD emitters show a flip in signal polarity with optical fluence that is attributed to THz emission from the metal-semiconductor contact. Variation in optical polarisation affects THz pulse power that is attributed to a local optical excitation near the metal contact
Rare-earth-ion doped KY(WO<sub>4</sub>)<sub>2</sub> optical waveguides grown by liquid-phase epitaxy
Production of anti-breast cancer monoclonal antibodies using a glutathione-S-transferase-MUC1 bacterial fusion protein.
Two murine Mabs VA1(IgG1) and VA2(IgG1) were produced against a bacterial fusion protein comprising glutathione S-transferase and five tandem repeats of the MUC1 protein. Using the immunoperoxidase staining technique, VA1 detected 46/53 and VA2 detected 48/53 breast cancers and both also reacted with a range of other human epithelial carcinomas. In addition VA1 gave weak reactions with normal breast tissues whereas VA2 was non-reactive and could be a relatively tumour specific antibody for breast cancer. The antibodies were also tested by ELISA-VA1 reacted weakly with glycosylated HMFG but strongly with deglycosylated HMFG, whereas VA2 reacted strongly with both forms of HMFG. The reactivities of the two Mabs with synthetic peptides of the MUC1 tandem repeat were used to map the epitopes recognised by VA1 (amino acids RPAPGS) and VA2 (amino acids DTRPA). The use of fusion proteins provides another means of immunisation to produce anti-tumour antibodies
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