Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology - Research Publications

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    THE PROGNOSTIC VALUE OF IMMUNOPEROXIDASE STAINING WITH MONOCLONAL-ANTIBODIES NCRC-11 AND 3E1.2 IN BREAST-CANCER
    MUIR, IM ; REED, RG ; STACKER, SA ; ALEXANDER, AI ; MCKENZIE, IFC ; BENNETT, RC (STOCKTON PRESS, 1991-07)
    The variation in survival of women with clinically similar breast cancers may lead to difficulty in clinical management so it is important to recognise factors which indicate the prognosis. Immunoperoxidase staining patterns of primary breast tumours using monoclonal antibody NCRC-11 have been shown to relate to overall survival (Ellis et al., 1985) but the results have not been reproducible in other centres. In this study paraffin sections of 483 primary breast cancers were stained with NCRC-11 and 3E1.2 using an immunoperoxidase system. The tumour staining patterns were compared with overall survival using life tables and tested for relative prognostic significance by Cox's multivariate analysis. NCRC-11 related to survival in all 483 cases (chi 2 5.8, P = 0.02) but both antibodies achieved maximum prognostic significance in lymph node negative patients (chi 2 9.4, P less than 0.002 and chi 2 10.7, P less than 0.001) in whom no other factor was more significant. Immunoperoxidase staining patterns produced by monoclonal antibodies NCRC-11 and 3E1.2 are important prognostic factors in breast cancer.
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    EVALUATION OF MSA AS A SERUM MARKER IN BREAST-CANCER - A COMPARISON WITH CEA
    STACKER, SA ; SACKS, NPM ; GOLDER, J ; TJANDRA, JJ ; THOMPSON, CH ; SMITHYMAN, A ; MCKENZIE, IFC (STOCKTON PRESS, 1988-03)
    In a blind study, 518 serum samples were assayed for serum levels of mammary serum antigen (MSA) by an enzyme immunoassay (EIA) using the 3E1.2 monoclonal antibody. Using 300 IU as the arbitrary cut off to distinguish normal from abnormal individuals, 75% of patients with primary Stage I carcinoma of the breast (n = 12), 89% of those with Stage II (n = 9) and 93% of those with Stage IV (n = 57) had elevated levels of MSA. A relationship was observed between the level of MSA and stage of disease, and therefore with the extent of tumour burden. Levels of MSA were also determined in a series of 19 patients undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer. Over a 2-24 month period, the change of MSA levels corresponded with the clinical course of the disease in 17 (89%) cases. MSA levels were also raised in some patients with ovarian, colon, lung and kidney cancer, but the average level was lower than in patients with breast cancer. A comparison of CEA and MSA levels in these patients revealed that MSA was a substantially better marker for breast cancer than CEA. The results of this study demonstrate that MSA levels are elevated in patients with breast cancer and may provide a useful means of following the clinical course of patients with this disease.
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    COMPARISON OF MAMMARY SERUM ANTIGEN (MSA) AND CA15-3 LEVELS IN THE SERUM OF PATIENTS WITH BREAST-CANCER
    SACKS, NPM ; STACKER, SA ; THOMPSON, CH ; COLLINS, JP ; RUSSELL, IS ; SULLIVAN, JA ; MCKENZIE, IFC (STOCKTON PRESS, 1987-12)
    Serum levels of mammary serum antigen (MSA) and CA15-3 were evaluated in 135 individuals in order to determine their single and combined value in the diagnosis and monitoring of breast cancer. Raised MSA levels (greater than 300 IU) were found in 68% of patients with Stage I and II breast cancer compared to only 3% having raised CA15-3 levels (greater than 40 U ml-1). Of 38 patients with Stage IV breast cancer, 95% had raised levels of MSA and CA15-3 combined with each test individually detecting 82% of those with Stage IV disease. No correlation was found between MSA and CA15-3 levels. Four patients being treated for breast cancer were followed over a 5-17 week period; MSA levels correlated with disease course in 3 and CA-15 in 2. The overall sensitivity, specificity and accuracy in detecting breast cancer were 76%, 91% and 96% for MSA; and 47%, 95% and 97% for CA15-3 respectively. When both tests were used together combined evaluation gave the highest sensitivity (84%) and specificity (100%). MSA seems to be superior to CA15-3 for early breast cancer diagnosis and a combination of the two tests gave the best results for metastatic disease.
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    PURIFICATION AND BIOCHEMICAL-CHARACTERIZATION OF A NOVEL BREAST-CARCINOMA ASSOCIATED MUCIN-LIKE GLYCOPROTEIN DEFINED BY ANTIBODY 3E1.2
    STACKER, SA ; TJANDRA, JJ ; XING, PX ; WALKER, ID ; THOMPSON, CH ; MCKENZIE, IFC (STOCKTON PRESS, 1989-04)
    A member of the high molecular weight glycoproteins of human milk and breast cancer was isolated from the sera, ascites and breast carcinoma tissue of patients with breast cancer using monoclonal antibody 3E1.2. The 3E1.2 defined antigen, termed mammary serum antigen (MSA) was obtained by immunoaffinity chromatography and a solid phase immuno-precipitation technique (SPIT) from serum of patients with metastatic breast cancer. MSA was found to be a high molecular weight glycoprotein with a Mr greater than 300,000 by sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and a native Mr approximately 1 x 10(6) by gel filtration chromatography; in accord with the published Mr of other high molecular weight glycoproteins obtained from human milk and breast cancer. A high degree of glycosylation of MSA molecule was shown by its poor staining with Coomassie blue but good staining in a PAS-silver stain. In addition, MSA contained N-acetyl neuraminic acid and N-acetyl glucosamine as indicated by its binding to wheat-germ agglutinin. The epitope defined by antibody 3E1.2 is sensitive to treatment by sodium periodate and neuraminidase, implying that both carbohydrate and sialic acid are required for binding of antibody 3E1.2. Sandwich immunoassays demonstrated that MSA+ molecules are likely to express repeated 3E1.2 defined epitopes. Furthermore, MSA was susceptible to degradation by pronase, subtilisin and proteinase K and gave a different peptide profile from that of the PAS-O glycoprotein of human milk. MSA+ molecules were found to carry epitopes for a number of other monoclonal antibodies which were reactive with the PAS-O glycoprotein. It is suggested that MSA has the same core protein as is recognised by antibody DF3 which has been used to clone the same cDNA as was cloned with antibodies HMFG-1, HMFG-2 and SM-3. However, the epitope detected by the 3E1.2 antibody is either absent or weakly expressed on human milk, human milk-fat globule membrane (HMFGM) or deglycosylated HMFGM--all of which react strongly with various anti-HMFG antibodies. The antibody 3E1.2 thus recognises a unique epitope of the high molecular weight glycoproteins of human milk and breast cancer, being found in cancer tissue, serum and ascitic fluid of patients with breast cancer but weakly expressed or absent in human milk.
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    PRODUCTION OF ANTI-BREAST CANCER MONOCLONAL-ANTIBODIES USING A GLUTATHIONE-S-TRANSFERASE-MUC1 BACTERIAL FUSION PROTEIN
    APOSTOLOPOULOS, V ; XING, PX ; TRAPANI, JA ; MCKENZIE, IFC (NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP, 1993-04)
    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.