京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・論文博士 / 博士(農学) / 乙第12879号 / 論農博第2806号 / 新制||農||1028(附属図書館) / 学位論文||H26||N4878(農学部図書室) / 31597 / (主査)教授 植田 和光, 教授 植田 充美, 教授 矢﨑 一史 / 学位規則第4条第2項該当 / Doctor of Agricultural Science / Kyoto University / DFAM

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(医学) / 甲第20052号 / 医博第4160号 / 新制||医||1018(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院医学研究科医学専攻 / (主査)教授 戸井 雅和, 教授 妹尾 浩, 教授 小川 修 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Medical Science / Kyoto University / DFAM

京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(医学) / 甲第23568号 / 医博第4782号 / 新制||医||1054(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院医学研究科医学専攻 / (主査)教授 武藤 学, 教授 小川 誠司, 教授 戸井 雅和 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Medical Science / Kyoto University / DFAM

No description available.

The ets gene family of transcription factors has been widely implicated in a variety of human tumors. PEA3, the founding member of the PEA3 subfamily of ets genes is overexpressed in a mouse model of mammary tumorigenesis as well as in primary human breast tumors. PEA3 deregulation in these tumors is thought to increase the metastatic potential of mammary tumors by increasing the expression of various matrix metalloproteinases. The identification of other ets gene's expression using a mouse model of HER2/Neu-induced mammary tumorigenesis would provide insight into the mechanisms behind these mammary tumors. Degenerate RT-PCR analysis was used to screen for expression of all known ets genes in these tumors. A large spectrum of ets genes was identified as being expressed in these tumors. Quantitative analyses including semi-quantitative RT-PCR and ribonuclease protection assays, indicate that the PEA3 subfamily of ets genes, including PEA3, ERM and ER81, as being overexpressed in these tumors, while other ets genes, Ets-1, Ets-2 and GABP(alpha) were not. These results imply a specific role for the PEA3 subfamily in this model of mammary tumorigenesis and isolate this subfamily of ets genes as a possible therapeutic target. / Thesis / Master of Science (MS)

Avec un taux de survie à 5 ans inférieur à 5%, l'adénocarcinome pancréatique (PDAC) est l'un des cancers les plus agressifs et pour lequel les thérapies existantes sont largement insuffisantes. Ce cancer est caractérisé par un tissu fibreux dense et un stroma très développé, en constante interaction avec la tumeur, favorisant le développement d'un environnement propice à la progression tumorale. Actuellement, la gemcitabine est la seule chimiothérapie approuvée capable de prolonger légèrement la survie des patients. Une thérapie ciblée dirigée contre l'EGFR, l'erlotinib, a prouvé que le ciblage de cette famille pourrait être une stratégie intéressante dans cette pathologie mais qu'une sélection des patients était indispensable pour augmenter les réponses thérapeutiques. Deux récepteurs de cette famille, HER2 et HER3, dimérisent pour former une entité particulièrement agressive et impliquée dans la croissance tumorale des PDACs. Diverses techniques récemment développées sont utilisées pour quantifier ces dimères, afin d'étudier leur rôle, mais également pour tenter de les cibler, et empêcher leur signalisation dans différents cancers. A l'heure actuelle, le pertuzumab est le seul anticorps monoclonal dirigé contre le récepteur HER2, capable de bloquer sa dimérisation, et utilisé en clinique. Dans un premier temps, nous nous sommes intéressés au rôle de HER3 en tant que cible et marqueur pronostique de l'effet du pertuzumab sur les PDAC exprimant faiblement HER2. Puis dans une deuxième partie, nous avons étudié et comparé les effets de différents anticorps monoclonaux dirigés contre HER2 et/ou HER3, sur la prolifération tumorale de tumeurs du pancréas. L'ensemble de ces résultats a permis d'établir que le ciblage du dimère HER2/HER3 s'avère être une stratégie prometteuse pour inhiber la croissance des tumeurs du pancréas exprimant faiblement HER2, et que le récepteur HER3 pourrait être un marqueur pronostique de l'effet du pertuzumab. / With a 5-year survival lower than 5%, PDAC is one of the worst cancers in terms of mortality, and for which existing therapies are unsatisfying. This cancer is characterized by a dense fibrotic tissue and an over-developed stroma, in continual interaction with the tumor, promoting the development of an ideal environment for tumor progression.To date, gemcitabine is the only approved chemotherapy able to slightly increase patients' survival. The use of erlotinib, an EGFR targeting therapy, underlined that EGFR family targeting could be an interesting treatment strategy in this pathology, but that a better patients' selection is essential to increase therapeutic response. Two receptors of this family, HER2 and HER3, are able to dimerize to consititute an aggressive entity, involved in PDAC tumoral growth. Various recently developed techniques are used to quantify those dimers, in order to study their role, but also to target them and block their signaling in cancer cells. Pertuzumab is currently the only HER2-targeting monoclonal antibody able to block its dimerization and used in clinic. We first evaluated the role of HER3 as therapeutic target and prognostic marker of pertuzumab efficacy on HER2-low expressing PDACs. We then studied and compared therapeutic effects on pancreatic tumor proliferation of different antibodies targeting HER2 and/or HER3. Taken together, those results demonstrated that HER2/HER3 dimers targeting is a promising strategy to inhibit low-HER2 expressing pancreatic tumor growth, and that HER3 could be a pronostic marker for pertuzumab efficacy in those cancers.

Introdução: O câncer de mama é o segundo tipo de câncer mais frequente no mundo, com cerca de 1,67 milhões de casos novos e 521 mil mortes a cada ano. O câncer de mama pode ser classificado em diferentes grupos, sendo o subtipo HER2 positivo um dos mais agressivos e relacionado a um mal prognóstico. No entanto novas terapias, tendo como alvo o receptor HER2, vem sendo desenvolvidas com a finalidade de melhorar as condições das pacientes. Dentre elas encontra-se o trastuzumabe, um anticorpo monoclonal recombinante humanizado do tipo IgG1, o qual se liga com alta afinidade ao domínio extracelular do receptor HER2. O uso do trastuzumabe está associado a um aumento da taxa de sobrevida de mulheres com câncer de mama HER2 positivo. O trastuzumabe é geralmente bem tolerado, porém pode apresentar alguns eventos adversos dentre eles, a cardiotoxicidade, a qual pode levar à interrupção do tratamento, fazendo com que as pacientes se privem dos benefícios desta terapia medicamentosa. Além desse efeito, outros podem afetar a satisfação da paciente tais como as reações imunes relacionadas à infusão do trastuzumabe, eventos gastrointestinais, fadiga, dentre outros. Com a finalidade de aprimorar os cuidados à saúde, faz-se necessário avaliar os eventos adversos ao tratamento, bem como a qualidade de vida (QV) das mulheres com câncer de mama HER2 positivo que fazem uso do trastuzumabe visando contribuir para o aumento do seu bem-estar e garantir melhores resultados terapêuticos. Objetivo: Avaliar o perfil farmacoepidemiológico das mulheres com câncer de mama HER2 positivo que utilizaram o trastuzumabe atendidas pelo Sistema Único de Saúde, junto ao Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto da Universidade de São Paulo. Casuística e métodos: O presente trabalho é um estudo observacional, descritivo e quantitativo, o qual foi realizado em duas partes. Parte A: restrospectiva, na qual se avaliou os eventos adversos ao trastuzumabe em monoterapia e/ou combinado com a quimioterapia descritos nos prontuários e por meio de exames laboratoriais e dos resultados do ecocardiograma. Foram utilizados modelos de regressão logística para estimar odds ratios e seus respectivos intervalos de confiança de 95%, com a finalidade de verificar a associação dos eventos adversos mais frequentes e uma série de variáveis sociodemográficas e clínicas das mulheres. Parte B: prospectiva, na qual, além da avaliação dos eventos adversos, foi também avaliada a QV das pacientes por meio do questionário específico para câncer QLQ-C30 e seu módulo de câncer de mama BR-23 da European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) em quatro momentos: antes do início da quimioterapia, após o término da quimioterapia, durante o uso do trastuzumabe e após o término do uso trastuzumabe. Análise de variância (ANOVA) para medidas repetidas foi utilizada para as comparações entre os escores médios obtidos das escalas e itens individuais dos questionários. Resultados Parte A: Foram analisados os prontuários de 79 pacientes que iniciaram o trastuzumabe entre 2007 e 2011. A incidência de reações imunes relacionadas a infusão do trastuzumabe aconteceu em 16 (20,3%) pacientes. A cardiotoxicidade ocorreu em 26 (32,9%) pacientes, sendo que treze (16,4%) destas interromperam permanentemente o tratamento, três (3,8%) interromperam temporariamente e 10 xi (12,6%) terminaram o tratamento sem interrupção. Com relação aos outros eventos adversos, os mais frequentes apresentados com o uso da quimioterapia combinada com o trastuzumabe foram dor (20,4%), náusea e vômito (15,9%), febre (9,7%), e neutropenia (7,1%), sendo apresentados por 55,7% das mulheres. Com relação ao uso do trastuzumabe em monoterapia, os mais frequentes foram: dor (19,6%), fadiga (10,8%), náusea e vômito (9,8%), e cefaleia (8,8%) apresentados por 49,4% das mulheres. Com exceção da cardiotoxicidade, nenhum outro evento adverso levou à descontinuação do tratamento. Não foram encontradas associações entre os eventos adversos mais frequentes e as variáveis sociodemográficas e clínicas das pacientes pelos modelos de regressão logística. Resultados Parte B: Dez pacientes foram incluídas no estudo, no período de outubro de 2011 a julho de 2012. Durante o uso do trastuzumabe e após o seu término foi observada uma melhora significativa da QV das pacientes nos parâmetros fadiga e efeitos colaterais sistêmicos, em comparação com o momento em que estavam utilizando os quimioterápicos. Entretanto estudos mais extensos com uma maior população são necessários para que possa ser avaliada a existência de associação entre os dados clínicos e sociodemográficos das pacientes como os resultados de QV. Conclusão: Embora o trastuzumabe seja um medicamento relativamente seguro para o tratamento do câncer de mama HER2 positivo, este pode causas alguns eventos adversos. Na população estudada, o único evento que levou à interrupção do tratamento foi a cardiotoxicidade, entretanto outros estudos mostraram que outros eventos adversos também foram capazes de ocasionar a descontinuação do tratamento. Para tanto são necessários que sejam tomados alguns cuidados para a prevenção e manejo desses eventos adversos, como um acompanhamento mais regular da função cardíaca e monitoramento constante das pacientes durante a infusão do trastuzumabe. Além disso, o trastuzumabe mostrou ter efeito positivo sobre a QV das pacientes. A avaliação da QV é importante, pois fornece informações clínica úteis em relação ao real impacto do tratamento proposto sobre a saúde e bem-estar das pacientes e pode também orientar na busca de estratégicas para minimizar os eventos adversos ao tratamento. / Introduction: Breast cancer is the second most common cancer in the world, with about 1.67 million new cases and 521,000 deaths each year. Breast cancer can be classified into different groups, being the HER2 positive subtype one of the most aggressive and related to a poor prognosis. However, new therapies that target the HER2 receptor have been developed in order to improve the conditions of patients. Among them is trastuzumab, a recombinant humanized monoclonal antibody of the IgG1 type, which binds with high affinity to the extracellular domain of the HER2 receptor. The use of trastuzumab is associated with an increase in the survival rate of women with HER2 positive breast cancer. Trastuzumab is generally well tolerated, but may have some adverse events, among them the cardiotoxicity, which can lead to treatment discontinuation, depriving patients of the benefits of this therapy. In addition to this effect, others may affect patient satisfaction such as immune reactions related to the infusion of trastuzumab, gastrointestinal events, fatigue, among others. In order to improve health care, it is necessary to assess treatment adverse events and quality of life (QoL) of women with HER2-positive breast cancer that uses trastuzumab to contribute to the increase in their welfare and ensure better treatment results. Objective: To evaluate the pharmacoepidemiological profile of women with HER2-positive breast cancer that used trastuzumab attended by Brazilian public health system, in the General Hospital of Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo. Patients and methods: This is an observational, descriptive and quantitative study, which was conducted in two parts. Part A: retrospective, in which it was evaluated the adverse events to trastuzumab alone and / or combined with chemotherapy described in the medical records and by laboratory tests and echocardiogram results. We used logistic regression models to estimate odds ratios and their 95% confidence intervals to verify the association of the most frequent adverse events and a number of sociodemographic and clinical variables. Part B: prospective, in which besides the evaluation of adverse events it was also evaluated the QoL of patients through the specific questionnaire QLQ-C30 cancer and its breast cancer module BR-23 from the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) in four moments: before the start of chemotherapy, after the end of chemotherapy, during the use of trastuzumab and after the trastuzumab use. Results Part A: The medical records of 79 patients who started the trastuzumab between 2007 and 2011 were analysed. The incidence of immune reactions related to the infusion of trastuzumab occurred in 16 (20.3%) patients. Cardiotoxicity occurred in 26 (32.9%) patients, and 13 (16.4%) of these permanently discontinued the treatment, three (3.8%) discontinued temporarily and 10 (12.6%) completed treatment without interruption. In relation to the other adverse events, the most common events described with the use of trastuzumab combined with chemotherapy were pain (20.4%), nausea and vomiting (15.9%), fever (9.7%), and neutropenia (7.1%), being presented by 55.7% of women. Regarding the use of trastuzumab in monotherapy, the most common were pain (19.6%), fatigue (10.8%), nausea and vomiting (9.8%) and headache (8.8%) presented by 49.4% of women. Except for cardiotoxicity, no other adverse events led to treatment discontinuation. xiii No associations were found between the most frequent adverse events and the sociodemographic and clinical variables of the patients by logistic regression models. Results Part B: Ten patients were included in the study from October 2011 to July 2012. During the use of trastuzumab and after its completion, a significant improvement in QoL of patients on the parameters fatigue and systemic side effects were observed in comparison with the moment they were using chemotherapy. Nevertheless, larger studies with a larger population are needed in order to evaluate if there is an association between clinical and social demographic data of the patients with the results of QoL. Conclusion: Although trastuzumab is a relatively safe medication for the treatment of HER2 positive breast cancer, it may cause some adverse events. In this population, the only event that led to treatment interruption was cardiotoxicity, although other studies have shown that other adverse events were also able to cause treatment discontinuation. Therefore, some precaution needs to be taken for the prevention and management of those adverse events, such as a more regular monitoring of cardiac function and constant monitoring of patients during trastuzumab infusion. Furthermore, trastuzumab has shown to have a positive effect on patients QoL. The assessment of QoL is important as it provides useful clinical information regarding the real impact of the proposed treatment on the health and welfare of patients and can also guide the search for strategies to minimize treatment adverse events.

Areas of hypoxia caused by poor perfusion are a common occurrence in breast cancer. Hypoxia-inducible factors-1 and 2 (HIF1/2) drive the cellular response to hypoxia in such areas, resulting in the upregulation of genes which facilitate the survival of cancer cells and promote growth, invasion, metastasis and angiogenesis, generally leading to more aggressive tumour characteristics. Previous research has demonstrated that growth factor signalling, such as the ligand-mediated activation of HER receptors, can promote the action of HIFs in normoxia, and correlation between HER2 expression and HIFα proteins has been demonstrated in clinical samples of breast cancer. Despite this, little research has been conducted on how the growth factor-driven regulation of HIFα subunits might modify the cellular response to hypoxia. In this thesis, the role of HER2 overexpression in HIFα modulation was assessed in breast cancer cell lines and publically available clinical datasets for breast cancer with the aim of further understanding the implications of hypoxia and HIFα expression in the context of HER2-positive breast cancer. The upregulation of HIF1α and HIF2α by hypoxia was observed across breast cancer cell lines, and the role of HER2 in this process was assessed using an isogenic MCF7 cell line model overexpressing HER2. This demonstrated an increased hypoxic upregulation of HIF2α but not HIF1α when HER2 was overexpressed. The increased upregulation was shown to be facilitated by an increase in normoxic HIF2α, which is driven by a higher transcriptional rate of the EPAS1 (HIF2) gene as a direct result of HER2 overexpression. HER2 overexpression also resulted in the increased hypoxic upregulation of known hypoxia response genes in 2D and 3D culture models. This demonstrates a novel mechanism for growth-factor mediated HIFα regulation in the context of HER2 overexpression, with an important role for HIF2α. Microarray analysis of MCF7 and MCF7-HER2 cells was used to compare the global transcriptional response to acute (24 hrs) and chronic (>10 weeks) hypoxia (0.5% O2) and demonstrated a broadly increased upregulation of hypoxic response genes in the HER2 overexpressing cell line when compared to wild-type MCF7. This included an increase in previously described HIF1 and HIF2 target genes. MCF7-HER2 also illustrated an increased expression of hypoxia response genes in normoxia, and an analysis of the genes involved showed the promotion of a number of pathological processes including proliferation, invasion, angiogenesis and epithelial to mesenchymal transition. Large-scale, publically available expression datasets for breast cancer cell lines and clinical patient data were used to investigate the expression of HIF2α and hypoxia response genes in relation to HER2 expression. A set of pathologically important genes which were primed for hypoxia in MCF7-HER2 were also demonstrated to correlate with HER2 across breast cancer cell lines, suggesting that HER2 may more broadly promote a readiness to respond to hypoxia in breast cancer cells. Assessment of HIF2α in clinical samples has shown its increased expression in the HER2-positive subtype, and HIF2α was shown to be associated with worse disease-specific survival in the context of HER2-positive samples only. To investigate whether HIF2α is a potential target in HER2 overexpressing breast cancer, the effect of HIF2α inhibition through siRNA or HIF2-specific chemical inhibitors was assessed in cell lines with high or low HER2 expression, and this demonstrated an increased sensitivity of HER2 overexpressing cell lines to HIF2α inhibition. This work highlighted HER2 as an important modulator of the cellular response to hypoxia in breast cancer, demonstrating a previously overlooked role for HIF2α in this process. HIF2α expression can be directly driven by HER2 and this differs mechanistically from that previously reported for HIF1α. Finally, further work into the potential for HIF2α as a target for anti-cancer therapy is suggested, as an increased sensitivity of HER2-positive cell lines to anti-HIF2α agents was shown, as well as a HER2-specific relationship between HIF2α expression and worse prognosis. More generally, this work has shown an important interplay between growth factor receptor expression and the cellular response to hypoxia, suggesting that HER2 may promote a stronger response to hypoxia in breast cancer, which may contribute to the increased aggressiveness of HER2-positive tumours.

Introdução: O câncer de mama é o segundo tipo de câncer mais frequente no mundo, com cerca de 1,67 milhões de casos novos e 521 mil mortes a cada ano. O câncer de mama pode ser classificado em diferentes grupos, sendo o subtipo HER2 positivo um dos mais agressivos e relacionado a um mal prognóstico. No entanto novas terapias, tendo como alvo o receptor HER2, vem sendo desenvolvidas com a finalidade de melhorar as condições das pacientes. Dentre elas encontra-se o trastuzumabe, um anticorpo monoclonal recombinante humanizado do tipo IgG1, o qual se liga com alta afinidade ao domínio extracelular do receptor HER2. O uso do trastuzumabe está associado a um aumento da taxa de sobrevida de mulheres com câncer de mama HER2 positivo. O trastuzumabe é geralmente bem tolerado, porém pode apresentar alguns eventos adversos dentre eles, a cardiotoxicidade, a qual pode levar à interrupção do tratamento, fazendo com que as pacientes se privem dos benefícios desta terapia medicamentosa. Além desse efeito, outros podem afetar a satisfação da paciente tais como as reações imunes relacionadas à infusão do trastuzumabe, eventos gastrointestinais, fadiga, dentre outros. Com a finalidade de aprimorar os cuidados à saúde, faz-se necessário avaliar os eventos adversos ao tratamento, bem como a qualidade de vida (QV) das mulheres com câncer de mama HER2 positivo que fazem uso do trastuzumabe visando contribuir para o aumento do seu bem-estar e garantir melhores resultados terapêuticos. Objetivo: Avaliar o perfil farmacoepidemiológico das mulheres com câncer de mama HER2 positivo que utilizaram o trastuzumabe atendidas pelo Sistema Único de Saúde, junto ao Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto da Universidade de São Paulo. Casuística e métodos: O presente trabalho é um estudo observacional, descritivo e quantitativo, o qual foi realizado em duas partes. Parte A: restrospectiva, na qual se avaliou os eventos adversos ao trastuzumabe em monoterapia e/ou combinado com a quimioterapia descritos nos prontuários e por meio de exames laboratoriais e dos resultados do ecocardiograma. Foram utilizados modelos de regressão logística para estimar odds ratios e seus respectivos intervalos de confiança de 95%, com a finalidade de verificar a associação dos eventos adversos mais frequentes e uma série de variáveis sociodemográficas e clínicas das mulheres. Parte B: prospectiva, na qual, além da avaliação dos eventos adversos, foi também avaliada a QV das pacientes por meio do questionário específico para câncer QLQ-C30 e seu módulo de câncer de mama BR-23 da European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) em quatro momentos: antes do início da quimioterapia, após o término da quimioterapia, durante o uso do trastuzumabe e após o término do uso trastuzumabe. Análise de variância (ANOVA) para medidas repetidas foi utilizada para as comparações entre os escores médios obtidos das escalas e itens individuais dos questionários. Resultados Parte A: Foram analisados os prontuários de 79 pacientes que iniciaram o trastuzumabe entre 2007 e 2011. A incidência de reações imunes relacionadas a infusão do trastuzumabe aconteceu em 16 (20,3%) pacientes. A cardiotoxicidade ocorreu em 26 (32,9%) pacientes, sendo que treze (16,4%) destas interromperam permanentemente o tratamento, três (3,8%) interromperam temporariamente e 10 xi (12,6%) terminaram o tratamento sem interrupção. Com relação aos outros eventos adversos, os mais frequentes apresentados com o uso da quimioterapia combinada com o trastuzumabe foram dor (20,4%), náusea e vômito (15,9%), febre (9,7%), e neutropenia (7,1%), sendo apresentados por 55,7% das mulheres. Com relação ao uso do trastuzumabe em monoterapia, os mais frequentes foram: dor (19,6%), fadiga (10,8%), náusea e vômito (9,8%), e cefaleia (8,8%) apresentados por 49,4% das mulheres. Com exceção da cardiotoxicidade, nenhum outro evento adverso levou à descontinuação do tratamento. Não foram encontradas associações entre os eventos adversos mais frequentes e as variáveis sociodemográficas e clínicas das pacientes pelos modelos de regressão logística. Resultados Parte B: Dez pacientes foram incluídas no estudo, no período de outubro de 2011 a julho de 2012. Durante o uso do trastuzumabe e após o seu término foi observada uma melhora significativa da QV das pacientes nos parâmetros fadiga e efeitos colaterais sistêmicos, em comparação com o momento em que estavam utilizando os quimioterápicos. Entretanto estudos mais extensos com uma maior população são necessários para que possa ser avaliada a existência de associação entre os dados clínicos e sociodemográficos das pacientes como os resultados de QV. Conclusão: Embora o trastuzumabe seja um medicamento relativamente seguro para o tratamento do câncer de mama HER2 positivo, este pode causas alguns eventos adversos. Na população estudada, o único evento que levou à interrupção do tratamento foi a cardiotoxicidade, entretanto outros estudos mostraram que outros eventos adversos também foram capazes de ocasionar a descontinuação do tratamento. Para tanto são necessários que sejam tomados alguns cuidados para a prevenção e manejo desses eventos adversos, como um acompanhamento mais regular da função cardíaca e monitoramento constante das pacientes durante a infusão do trastuzumabe. Além disso, o trastuzumabe mostrou ter efeito positivo sobre a QV das pacientes. A avaliação da QV é importante, pois fornece informações clínica úteis em relação ao real impacto do tratamento proposto sobre a saúde e bem-estar das pacientes e pode também orientar na busca de estratégicas para minimizar os eventos adversos ao tratamento. / Introduction: Breast cancer is the second most common cancer in the world, with about 1.67 million new cases and 521,000 deaths each year. Breast cancer can be classified into different groups, being the HER2 positive subtype one of the most aggressive and related to a poor prognosis. However, new therapies that target the HER2 receptor have been developed in order to improve the conditions of patients. Among them is trastuzumab, a recombinant humanized monoclonal antibody of the IgG1 type, which binds with high affinity to the extracellular domain of the HER2 receptor. The use of trastuzumab is associated with an increase in the survival rate of women with HER2 positive breast cancer. Trastuzumab is generally well tolerated, but may have some adverse events, among them the cardiotoxicity, which can lead to treatment discontinuation, depriving patients of the benefits of this therapy. In addition to this effect, others may affect patient satisfaction such as immune reactions related to the infusion of trastuzumab, gastrointestinal events, fatigue, among others. In order to improve health care, it is necessary to assess treatment adverse events and quality of life (QoL) of women with HER2-positive breast cancer that uses trastuzumab to contribute to the increase in their welfare and ensure better treatment results. Objective: To evaluate the pharmacoepidemiological profile of women with HER2-positive breast cancer that used trastuzumab attended by Brazilian public health system, in the General Hospital of Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo. Patients and methods: This is an observational, descriptive and quantitative study, which was conducted in two parts. Part A: retrospective, in which it was evaluated the adverse events to trastuzumab alone and / or combined with chemotherapy described in the medical records and by laboratory tests and echocardiogram results. We used logistic regression models to estimate odds ratios and their 95% confidence intervals to verify the association of the most frequent adverse events and a number of sociodemographic and clinical variables. Part B: prospective, in which besides the evaluation of adverse events it was also evaluated the QoL of patients through the specific questionnaire QLQ-C30 cancer and its breast cancer module BR-23 from the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) in four moments: before the start of chemotherapy, after the end of chemotherapy, during the use of trastuzumab and after the trastuzumab use. Results Part A: The medical records of 79 patients who started the trastuzumab between 2007 and 2011 were analysed. The incidence of immune reactions related to the infusion of trastuzumab occurred in 16 (20.3%) patients. Cardiotoxicity occurred in 26 (32.9%) patients, and 13 (16.4%) of these permanently discontinued the treatment, three (3.8%) discontinued temporarily and 10 (12.6%) completed treatment without interruption. In relation to the other adverse events, the most common events described with the use of trastuzumab combined with chemotherapy were pain (20.4%), nausea and vomiting (15.9%), fever (9.7%), and neutropenia (7.1%), being presented by 55.7% of women. Regarding the use of trastuzumab in monotherapy, the most common were pain (19.6%), fatigue (10.8%), nausea and vomiting (9.8%) and headache (8.8%) presented by 49.4% of women. Except for cardiotoxicity, no other adverse events led to treatment discontinuation. xiii No associations were found between the most frequent adverse events and the sociodemographic and clinical variables of the patients by logistic regression models. Results Part B: Ten patients were included in the study from October 2011 to July 2012. During the use of trastuzumab and after its completion, a significant improvement in QoL of patients on the parameters fatigue and systemic side effects were observed in comparison with the moment they were using chemotherapy. Nevertheless, larger studies with a larger population are needed in order to evaluate if there is an association between clinical and social demographic data of the patients with the results of QoL. Conclusion: Although trastuzumab is a relatively safe medication for the treatment of HER2 positive breast cancer, it may cause some adverse events. In this population, the only event that led to treatment interruption was cardiotoxicity, although other studies have shown that other adverse events were also able to cause treatment discontinuation. Therefore, some precaution needs to be taken for the prevention and management of those adverse events, such as a more regular monitoring of cardiac function and constant monitoring of patients during trastuzumab infusion. Furthermore, trastuzumab has shown to have a positive effect on patients QoL. The assessment of QoL is important as it provides useful clinical information regarding the real impact of the proposed treatment on the health and welfare of patients and can also guide the search for strategies to minimize treatment adverse events.

Le trastuzumab est le traitement de référence des cancers du sein « HER2 amplifié ». Outre les limitations inhérentes à toute IgG, cet anticorps est inefficace pour traiter les tumeurs exprimant que modérément (cancers hormonaux) ou faiblement (triple négatif) HER2. L'objectif de ces travaux de thèse est de concevoir de nouveaux anticorps bispécifiques destinés au traitement de cancers du sein échappant à l'action du trastuzumab. Nous nous sommes appuyés sur des formats innovants, basés sur l'utilisation d'anticorps simple domaine de lama (sdAb) comme unité de reconnaissance antigénique. Deux anticorps bispécifiques Fab-like (bsFab) ont été développés, l'un dirigé contre HER2 (HER2bsFab) et l'autre ciblant la mésothéline (MesobsFab), un antigène surexprimé dans 30 à 70% des cancers du sein « triple négatif ». En liant spécifiquement et de façon efficace FcγRIII, ces deux bsFabs ne compètent pas avec les IgG endogènes, ne fixent pas FcγRIIB et activent fortement les NKs. In vitro, HER2bsFab induit de fortes sécrétions de cytokines pro-inflammatoires et de puissantes ADCCs contre des lignées de cancer du sein indépendamment du niveau d'expression d'HER2 et du polymorphisme FcγRIIIA-158. In vivo, HER2bsFab montre une nette supériorité comparé au trastuzumab contre des tumeurs ne surexprimant que modérément HER2. HER2bsFab et MesobsFab induisent in vitro de fortes cytotoxicités contre deux lignées de cancer du sein « triple négatif » et des résultats préliminaires réalisés chez la souris semblent confirmer ces observations. A termes, l'utilisation de ces anticorps permettrait d'étendre la proportion de patientes traitables de façon efficace par immunothérapie. / Trastuzumab is established as standard of care for the treatment of HER2high breast cancers. However, in addition to Fc-related limitations inherent to IgG antibodies, trastuzumab is inefficient to treat low- (triple-negative) or moderate-HER2-overexpressing (hormone-receptor-positive) breast cancers. Based on the unique structural and functional properties of llama single domain antibodies (sdAbs), we report the design of two Fab-like bispecific antibodies targeted to HER2 (HER2bsFab) and mesothelin (MesobsFab), an antigen overexpressed in several human tumors, including triple-negative breast cancers. The two bsFabs display a unique, specific and high affinity for FcγRIII. As a consequence, they do not bind the FcγRIIB inhibitor receptor and bypass competition with endogenous IgGs. HER2bsFab mediated ADCC at picomolar concentration against HER2high as well as HER2moderate cell lines. In vivo HER2bsFab potently inhibited HER2high tumor growth and more importantly, exhibited a net superiority over trastuzumab at inhibiting HER2moderate tumor growth. Moreover, FcγRIIIA-engagement by HER2bsFab was independent of FcγRIIIA-158 polymorphism and induced a stronger NK cells activation in response to target cell recognition. Such findings led us to investigating the efficacy of bsFabs in a context of low-HER2-overexpression displays by triple-negative breast cancers. In vitro characterization showed that both HER2bsFab and MesobsFab trigger efficient lysis of two different triple-negative breast cancer cell lines. Altogether, these findings would enable the treatment of a broader population of patients than that eligible with current HER2-targeted therapies.