Aviram Nissan, M.D.

Genetic mutations in Palestinian women with breast cancer; genetic profiling of colorectal cancer in young patients; molecular targets for cancer immunotherapy; molecular staging of sentieal lymph nodes in breast and colon cancer; expression of imprinted genes and other transciptional regulatory sequences in human colon cancer liver metastasis.

Main research areas:

1.      Tumor banking for future antigen detection.

2.      Detection of minimal residual disease in sentinel lymph nodes and body fluids.

3.      Molecular profiling of tumors using tissue micro-array technology.

4.      Micro-RNA profile of breast cancer and colon cancer.

1. Tumor banking for future antigen detection

Tumor and corresponding normal tissues are being collected under the supervision of Dr. Prus, Dept. of Pathology and stored in liquid nitrogen containers.

Detection of minimal residual disease in sentinel lymph nodes and body fluids

1.      Multimarker RT-PCR Assay for the Detection of Minimal Residual Disease in Sentinel Lymph Nodes of Breast Cancer Patients

(This work was performed with Dr. Dirk Jager, Heidelberg and Dr. Gerd Ritter, New York)

Results:

Table 1

Comparison of Different Detection Methods for

Breast Cancer Sentinel Lymph-Node Metastases.

Method	Total positive	% Positive*	Absolute Sensitivity increase	Relative Sensitivity Increase
H&E	6	20.0%	0%	0%
IHC	8	26.7%	6.7%	33.3%
RT-PCR	15	50.0%	30.0%	150.0%

* Percentage of positive nodes out of all nodes analyzed (N=30)

** Percentage increase in positive nodes detected using number of nodes detected by H&E as a baseline (N=6).

1. H&E=hematoxilyn and eosin stain
2. IHC=Immunohistochemistry stain for cytokertain
3. RT-PCR= reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. 

British Journal of Cancer, 94:681, 2006.

2. Multimarker RT-PCR Assay for the Detection of Minimal Residual Disease in body fluids of Breast Cancer Patients

(This work was performed by Kereor Raviv in collaboration with Dr. Dirk Jager, Heidelberg and Dr. Gerd Ritter, New York)

The same methods were applied for the detection of MRD in the serum and pleural effusions of patients suspected of having breast cancer metastasis not seen by imaging modalities and not detected by biochemical markers or cytology. A pilot study showed very high sensitivity for the molecular (RT-PCR) detection method. The study protocol was approved by the IRB.

3. Multimarker RT-PCR Assay for the Detection of Minimal Residual Disease in Sentinel Lymph Nodes of colon Cancer Patients

(This work is performed by Dr. Ronit Ginbaum in collaboration with Drs. Ali Gure and Gerd Ritter, New York.)

This work was presented, in part (only CK-20 results), at the Israeli Surgical Society Annual Meeting June

The objective of this study is to determine the prognostic significance of molecular staging of colon carcinoma on the basis of sentinel lymph node mapping and analysis.

Methods:

RNA was extracted from:

1.      Adenocarcinoma of the colon (n=30)

2.      Normal colon mucosa from the same patients (n=30)

3.      Normal colon mucosa form patients suffering from benign conditions (n=3)

4.      Sentinel lymph nodes of colon cancer patients (n=30)

5.      PBLS form blood of healthy volunteers (n=10)

The following markers were tested: CK-20, 3.6a, Co-58.

PCR results are outlined in table 2:

Table 2

Sentinel Node Positivity by Different Examination Methods