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C Streckfus

Publications and source records attributed to C Streckfus.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Reliability assessment of soluble c-erbB-2 concentrations in the saliva of healthy women and men.

BACKGROUND: The protein c-erb B-2, also known as Her2/neu, is a prognostic breast cancer marker assayed in tissue biopsy specimens from women diagnosed with malignant tumors. Current studies suggest that soluble fragments of the c-erb B-2 oncogene may be released from the cell surface and become detectable in patients with a carcinoma of the breast. Consequently, the purpose of this study is to assay soluble c-erb B-2 protein in the saliva of healthy men and women to determine the reliability of the assay. METHODS: To determine the diagnostic utility of this oncogene, we assayed the soluble form of the c-erb B-2 protein in the saliva with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The study population consisted of 10 healthy women and 9 healthy men who were serially sampled for saliva 3 times a day for a 5-day period. Saliva was collected from each subject at 9 AM, 4 PM, and 9 PM during the 5-day period. RESULTS: We found the presence of c-erb B-2 protein in the saliva of both groups of subjects. The salivary levels of c-erb B-2 were not significantly different when compared for gender differences. Likewise, the results suggest that sampling during various times of the day for salivary c-erb B-2 levels has no effect on marker concentration. Reliability analyses showed that supervised salivary collections were more reliable than unsupervised collections. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this pilot study suggest that the assay for salivary c-erb B-2 protein is reliable and might have potential use in the initial detection and follow-up screening for the recurrence of breast cancer in both men and women.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

A preliminary study of CA15-3, c-erbB-2, epidermal growth factor receptor, cathepsin-D, and p53 in saliva among women with breast carcinoma.

A panel of markers used to aid in the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer was examined in the saliva of a cohort of healthy women, women with benign lesions of the breast, and women with diagnosed breast cancer. We found recognized tumor markers c-erbB-2 (erb), cancer antigen 15-3 (CA15-3), and tumor suppressor oncogene protein 53 (p53) in the saliva of all three groups of women. The levels of erb and CA15-3 in the cancer patients evaluated, however, were significantly higher than the salivary levels of healthy control subjects and benign tumor patients. Conversely, pantropic p53 levels were higher in control subjects compared with those women with breast cancer and those with benign tumors. Although cathepsin-D and epidermal growth factor receptor were detected, they did not demonstrate any clear correlation with disease status. The results of the pilot suggest that these markers have potential use in initial detection and/or follow-up screening for the detection of breast cancer in women.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

The presence of soluble c-erbB-2 in saliva and serum among women with breast carcinoma: a preliminary study.

The protein c-erbB-2, also known as Her2/neu, is a prognostic breast cancer marker assayed in tissue biopsies from women diagnosed with malignant tumors. Present studies suggest that soluble fragments of the c-erbB-2 oncogene may be released from the cell surface and become detectable in patients with carcinoma of the breast. Consequently, the purpose of this study was to assay the c-erbB-2 protein in the saliva and serum of women with and without carcinoma of the breast and to determine whether the protein possesses any diagnostic value. To determine the diagnostic utility of this oncogene, the soluble form of the c-erbB-2 protein was assayed in the saliva and serum using ELISA in three different groups of women. The three groups consisted of 57 healthy women, 41 women with benign breast lesions, and 30 women diagnosed with breast cancer. To compare the relative diagnostic utility of the c-erbB-2 protein, CA 15-3 was also measured. The CA 15-3 measurements served as a "gold standard" by which to compare the c-erbB-2 protein's diagnostic effectiveness. We found c-erbB-2 protein in the saliva and serum of all three groups of women. The salivary and serological levels of c-erbB-2 in the cancer patients, however, were significantly higher (P < 0.001) than the salivary and serum levels of healthy controls and benign tumor patients. Additionally, the c-erbB-2 protein was found to be equal to or to surpass the ability of CA 15-3 to detect patients with carcinoma. The results of the pilot study suggest that the c-erbB-2 protein may have potential use in the initial detection and/or follow-up screening for the recurrence of breast cancer in women.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

CA 15-3 and c-erbB-2 presence in the saliva of women.

Two markers used to aid in the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer were examined in the saliva of a cohort of 135 healthy women. The investigators detected the presence of cancer antigen 15-3 (CA 15-3) and c-erbB-2 in the saliva sampled from the 135 women. The marker concentrations for CA 15-3 and c-erbB-2 were also evaluated and compared in terms of tobacco usage, menopausal status, estrogen usage, systemic diseases, prescription medications, race, and age. The results of the study showed no association between the aforementioned variables and salivary marker concentrations. The results of this study establish a baseline for measuring the biomarkers in the saliva of women with no evidence of malignant disease and add further support to the notion that salivary concentrations of CA 15-3 and c-erbB-2 may be useful in the detection of breast cancer and/or the post operative follow-up of patients being treated for carcinoma of the breast.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

Oral contraceptive usage and the expression of CA 15-3 and c-erbB-2 in the saliva of healthy women.

OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to determine if oral contraceptive use affected the salivary levels of 2 cancer biomarkers, cancer antigen 15-3 (CA 15-3), and c-erbB-2 (erb) among women. STUDY DESIGN: A total of 40 women were recruited for this study, 20 controls and 20 using oral contraceptives. The average ages were 27.4 years (control) and 27.1 years (using estrogen supplements). Stimulated whole saliva specimens were collected from each woman. CA 15-3 levels were determined using enzyme immunoassay (EIA) while c-erbB-2 levels were determined by standard ELISA methods. RESULTS: Findings from this study indicate that there were no significant differences between the control and study groups. CONCLUSIONS: Therefore, saliva may be a useful tool for monitoring women with high estrogen levels due to either tumor load or any treatment regimen, i.e., the levels of the cancer biomarkers CA 15-3 and erb are not affected by increased levels of estrogen in the body.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Salivary sIgA concentrations and stimulated whole saliva flow rates among women undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer: an exploratory study.

A study was conducted to evaluate the secretion of stimulated whole saliva (SWS) and secretory IgA (sIgA) among three groups of women. One group was a healthy control group, the second group consisted of women diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer before being placed on chemotherapy, while the third group consisted of women on chemotherapy taking CMF (cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and fluorouracil) for at least one month. There were seven patients in each group. SWS was collected. Salivary sIgA concentrations were determined by enzyme-linked immunoabsorbant assay. The results of the study showed that the mean SWS flow rate for the chemotherapy group (x = 0.96 mL/min) was significantly lower (p > 0.03) than that of the control group (x = 2.33 mL/min) and lower than that of the group with cancer (x = 1.81 mL/min). Additionally, the results showed that the mean sIgA concentrations for the chemotherapy group (x = 10.9 ng/mg of protein) were slightly lower than those of the control group (x = 13.7 ng/mg of protein) and lower than those of the group with cancer (x = 12.6 ng/mg of protein). The results of this study suggest that women placed on CMF for treatment of carcinoma of the breast may have reduced stimulated salivary production.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Relationship among stimulated whole, glandular salivary flow rates, and root caries prevalence in an elderly population: a preliminary study.

A comparison of salivary flow rates was made between two groups of healthy, unmedicated, elderly, Caucasian men and women ranging in age from 60 to 90 years. One group was a control group, while the other group had both active and restored root caries. The control group consisted of 69 individuals with a mean age of 73 years. The root caries group consisted of 39 individuals with a mean age of 71 years. The groups were evaluated for unstimulated (UPAR) and stimulated parotid gland flow rates (SPAR), unstimulated (USUB) and stimulated submandibular/sublingual gland flow rates (SSUB), and stimulated whole saliva flow rates (SWhole). Parotid flow rates were determined with the use of a Carlson-Crittenden cup, while submandibular/sublingual flow rates were determined by means of the NIDR collector. A 2% citrate solution was used for stimulation in glandular collections. Subjects chewed a 1-cm3 cube of paraffin to stimulate whole saliva. The results showed that the control group had higher UPAR, SPAR, USUB, SSUB, and SWhole than the root caries group.

Age Factors↗