• Dacarbazine and the Agonistic TRAIL Receptor-2 Antibody Lexatumumab Induce Synergistic Anticancer Effects in Melanoma 

      Engesæter, Birgit Øvstebø; Engebråten, Olav; Flørenes, Vivi Ann; Mælandsmo, Gunhild (Journal article; Tidsskriftartikkel; Peer reviewed, 2012)
      Mapatumumab and lexatumumab (targeting death receptor 4 (DR4) and 5 (DR5), respectively) are agonistic TRAIL receptor antibodies that induce apoptosis in a wide range of cancer cells. The potency of mapatumumab and lexatumumab was assessed in mono therapy protocols, and the ability to sensitize for dacarbazine (DTIC) treatment was explored in ten different melanoma cell lines. Our data indicated ...
    • Fibroblast-induced switching to the mesenchymal-like phenotype and PI3K/mTOR signaling protects melanoma cells from BRAF inhibitors 

      Vasiliauskaite, Kotryna; Fleten, Karianne Giller; Barkovskaya, Anna; Nygaard, Vigdis; Haugen, Mads Haugland; Engesæter, Birgit Øvstebø; Mælandsmo, Gunhild; Prasmickaite, Lina (Journal article; Tidsskriftartikkel; Peer reviewed, 2016)
      The knowledge on how tumor-associated stroma influences efficacy of anti-cancer therapy just started to emerge. Here we show that lung fibroblasts reduce melanoma sensitivity to the BRAF inhibitor (BRAFi) vemurafenib only if the two cell types are in close proximity. In the presence of fibroblasts, the adjacent melanoma cells acquire de-differentiated mesenchymal-like phenotype. Upon treatment with ...