Study of Breast Cancer Associated Antibodies

General Information

Antibodies are a specific response to any "foreign" antigen, and they are usually detectable in the serum within 5-7 days after the initial exposure to it. However, there are some cases where there is a suppression of the specific immune response, such as in the case of a tumor. To date, there are no reports on serum antibodies that are associated to cancer. Some tumors, when surgically removed and studied have been found to have both infiltrates of T lymphocytes and antibodies bound to the tumor cells. These antibodies (and other specific immune responses) are assumed to be formed at later stages of the tumor growth, however, even in those cases, serum antibodies have not been reported (probably due to them being mostly "absorbed" by the tumor mass).

Since the mutations of a normal cell that lead to a malignant cell mass involves changes in the structure and function of the cells, it could be assumed that the immune system has recognized some of these changes as antigenic determinates that should be responded against; if so, than the suppression caused by the tumor would be the reason for the lack of antibodies.

If this immune suppression could be overcome, in vitro, it could lead to the formation of antibodies that are not detectable in the serum (We call this process Cimmunology). Identifying the structures that the antibodies bind to, and looking for a correlation between the tumor pathology and the antibodies' specificity - could provide additional information about the tumor - via a blood test.

1.2 Future CAAb Test