Herceptin Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Herceptin, including details on side-effects, breast cancer, treatment, therapy.

Do medulloblastoma tumors meet the Food and Drug Administration criteria for anti-erbB2 therapy with trastuzumab?

Entz-Werle N, Velasco V, Neuville A, Geoerger B, Mathieu MC, Guerin E, Kehrli P, Gaub MP, Vassal G, Grill J

INSERM U682, 3 avenue Molière, 67200 Strasbourg, France. Natacha.entz-werle@chru-strasbourg.fr

Several publications have recently focused on the erbB2 receptor in pediatric medulloblastomas (MBs) and its prognostic consequence. We determined erbB2 expression in 23 MBs at diagnosis. After DNA extraction, quantitative PCR targeting the erbB2 gene was performed and correlated with FISH analysis and immunohistochemistry. The samples were representative of the spectrum of the disease apart from the absence of large cell MBs. Using the tools validated for breast cancers by the FDA, we did not observe any expression or amplification of erbB2 and hence we speculate that MBs are not a good target for treatment with anti-erbB2 antibodies.

Published 26 November 2007 in Pediatr Blood Cancer, 50(1): 163-6.
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