c-erbB-2 Antisense Oligonucleotides Inhibit Serum-Induced Cell Spreading of Ovarian Cancer Cells

Amplification or overexpression of the c-erbB-2 oncogene (also known as HER-2, neu) is a frequent event in many types of human cancer including 20-30% of ovarian cancers where it characterizes a group of patients with poor prognosis (1,2). The expression of p185 (c-erbB-2) is in contrast quite restricted in normal adult tissues (3). The c-erbB-2 oncogene product (p185c-erbB-2) is a growth factor receptor (GFR) with extensive homology to the receptor for the epidermal growth factor (EGFR) and the c-erbB-3 and c-erbB-4 gene products (4). According to the hypothesis that c-erbB-2 is involved in pathogenesis and progression of human cancer, the overexpression in fibroblasts leads to the appearance of a transformed phenotype, capable of forming colonies in soft agar and inducing tumors in mice (5).