• AXL inhibition improves BRAF-targeted treatment in melanoma 

      Nyakas, Marta Sølvi; Fleten, Karianne Giller; Haugen, Mads Haugland; Engedal, Nikolai; Sveen, Christina; Farstad, Inger Nina; Flørenes, Vivi Ann; Prasmickaite, Lina; Mælandsmo, Gunhild Mari; Vasiliauskaite, Kotryna (Journal article; Tidsskriftartikkel; Peer reviewed, 2022)
      More than half of metastatic melanoma patients receiving standard therapy fail to achieve a long-term survival due to primary and/or acquired resistance. Tumor cell ability to switch from epithelial to a more aggressive mesenchymal phenotype, attributed with AXL<sup>high</sup> molecular profle in melanoma, has been recently linked to such event, limiting treatment efcacy. In the current study, ...
    • Cytoplasmic BRMS1 expression in malignant melanoma is associated with increased disease-free survival 

      Slipicevic, Ana; Holm, Ruth; Emilsen, Elisabeth; Rosnes, Anne Katrine Ree; Welch, Danny R.; Mælandsmo, Gunhild; Flørenes, Vivi Ann (Journal article; Tidsskriftartikkel; Peer reviewed, 2012)
      Breast cancer metastasis suppressor 1 (BRMS1) blocks metastasis in melanoma xenografts; however, its usefulness as a biomarker in human melanomas has not been widely studied. The goal was to measure BRMS1 expression in benign nevi, primary and metastatic melanomas and evaluate its impact on disease progression and prognosis. Paraffin-embedded tissue from 155 primary melanomas, 69 metastases and 15 ...
    • 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 ...
    • Molecularly matched therapy in the context of sensitivity, resistance, and safety; patient outcomes in end-stage cancer - the MetAction study 

      Ree, Anne Hansen; Nygaard, Vigdis; Pedersen, Kjetil Boye; Heinrich, Daniel; Dueland, Svein; Bergheim, Inger Riise; Johansen, Christin; Beiske, Klaus; Negård, Anne; Lund-Iversen, Marius; Nygaard, Vegard; Hovig, Eivind; Nakken, Sigve; Nasser, Salah; Julsrud, Lars; Reisse, Claudius; Ruud, Espen Asak; Kristensen, Vessela N.; Flørenes, Vivi Ann; Geitvik, Gry; Lingjærde, Ole Christian; Børresen-Dale, Anne-Lise; Russnes, Hege Elisabeth Giercksky; Mælandsmo, Gunhild Mari; Flatmark, Kjersti (Journal article; Tidsskriftartikkel; Peer reviewed, 2020-03-25)
      <i>Background</i>: In precision cancer medicine, the challenge is to prioritize DNA driver events, account for resistance markers, and procure sufficient information for treatment that maintains patient safety. The MetAction project, exploring how tumor molecular vulnerabilities predict therapy response, first established the required workflow for DNA sequencing and data interpretation (2014–2015). ...
    • p38 MAPK activation through B7-H3-mediated DUSP10 repression promotes chemoresistance 

      Flem-Karlsen, Karine; Tekle, Christina; Øyjord, Tove Ragnhild; Flørenes, Vivi Ann; Mælandsmo, Gunhild Mari; Fodstad, Øystein; Nunes-Xavier, Caroline Elisabeth (Journal article; Tidsskriftartikkel; Peer reviewed, 2019-04-09)
      Immunoregulatory protein B7-H3 is involved in the oncogenic and metastatic potential of cancer cells, as well as in drug resistance. Resistance to conventional chemotherapy is an important aspect of melanoma treatment, and a better understanding of how B7-H3 enhances drug resistance may lead to the development of more effective therapies. We investigated the <i>in vitro</i> and <i>in vivo</i> ...
    • Targeting AXL and the DNA damage response pathway as a novel therapeutic strategy in melanoma 

      Karlsen, Karine Flem; McFadden, Erin; Omar, Nasrin; Haugen, Mads Haugland; Øy, Geir Frode; Ryder, Truls; Gullestad, Hans Petter; Hermann, Robert; Mælandsmo, Gunhild Mari; Flørenes, Vivi Ann (Journal article; Tidsskriftartikkel; Peer reviewed, 2019-12-23)
      Receptor tyrosine kinase AXL is found upregulated in various types of cancer, including melanoma, and correlates with an aggressive cancer phenotype, inducing cell proliferation and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition. Additionally, AXL has recently been linked to chemotherapy resistance and inhibition of AXL is found to increase DNA damage and reduce expression of DNA repair proteins. In light of ...
    • A Three-dimensional Ex Vivo Viability Assay Reveals a Strong Correlation Between Response to Targeted Inhibitors and Mutation Status in Melanoma Lymph Node Metastases 

      Flørenes, Vivi Ann; Flem-Karlsen, Karine; McFadden, Erin; Bergheim, Inger Riise; Nygaard, Vigdis; Nygård, Vegard Mokleiv; Farstad, Inger Nina; Øy, Geir Frode; Emilsen, Elisabeth; Fleten, Karianne Giller; Ree, Anne Hansen; Flatmark, Kjersti; Gullestad, Hans Petter; Hermann, Robert; Ryder, Truls; Wernhoff, Patrik; Mælandsmo, Gunhild Mari (Journal article; Tidsskriftartikkel; Peer reviewed, 2019-05-13)
      Although clinical management of melanoma has changed considerably in recent years, intrinsic treatment resistance remains a severe problem and strategies to design personal treatment regimens are highly warranted. We have applied a three-dimensional (3D) <i>ex vivo</i> drug efficacy assay, exposing disaggregated cells from 38 freshly harvested melanoma lymph node metastases and 21 patient derived ...