Scientific Interest(s):
Dr. Harvey Herschman's laboratory discovered the COX-2 gene, the target of the anti-inflammatory drugs Celebrex and Vioxx. Elevated COX-2 is a hallmark of many cancers such as colon, lung and breast. He and his colleagues are interested in the role of COX-2 in the initiation and progression of cancers. To study these areas, they are developing mouse models in which COX-2 can be conditionally over-expressed or suppressed in specific target tissues.
Herschman and associates also are interested in monitoring the development of tumors and in monitoring the delivery of gene therapy vectors to treat cancer. They have developed non-invasive imaging techniques to repeatedly and quantitatively monitor the location, magnitude and duration of gene expression from gene therapy vectors. These techniques can also be used to monitor the proliferation and location of immune cells infused into tumor-bearing animals.
Selected Cancer-Related Publications:
Li HJ, Everts M, Pereboeva L, Komarova S, Idan A, Curiel DT, Herschman HR. Adenovirus tumor targeting and hepatic untargeting by a coxsackie/adenovirus receptor ectodomain anti-carcinoembryonic antigen bispecific adapter. Cancer Res. 2007; 67(11): 5354-61.
Czernin J, Weber WA, Herschman HR. Molecular imaging in the development of cancer therapeutics. Annu Rev Med. 2006; 57: 99-118.
Ishikawa TO, Herschman HR. Conditional knockout mouse for tissue-specific disruption of the cyclooxygenase-2 (Cox-2) gene. Genesis. 2006; 44(3): 143-9.
Su H, Bodenstein C, Dumont RA, Seimbille Y, Dubinett S, Phelps ME, Herschman H, Czernin J, Weber W. Monitoring tumor glucose utilization by positron emission tomography for the prediction of treatment response to epidermal growth factor receptor kinase inhibitors. Clin Cancer Res. 2006; 12(19): 5659-67.
Herschman HR. Molecular imaging: looking at problems, seeing solutions. Science. 2003; 302(5645): 605-8.