Research
Clinical Interests: Improving the diagnosis and treatment of cancer in the lung, breast and prostate. Research Interests: I am investigating the role of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and peptides derived from AFP in the regulation of endocrine cancer growth. We have shown that full-length AFP blocks the estrogen-stimulated growth of human breast cancer xenografts and the androgen-stimulated growth of human prostate cancer xenografts. The active site of AFP is located in Domain III (carboxyl end) of the molecule. We have synthesized a 34-amino-acid peptide (amino acids 447-480 of AFP) derived from AFP which retains the activity of the full-length molecule. We are currently synthesizing smaller portions of this peptide and implementing strategies for stabilizing this peptide so that it can be used for the treatment of steroid hormone-receptor-positive human endocrine cancers. We are also investigating the mechanism by which tumor growth inhibition is brought about by these peptides.
Publications
Bennett JA, Semeniuk DJ, Jacobson HI, Murgita RA. Similarity between natural and recombinant human alpha-fetoprotein as inhibitors of estrogen-dependent breast cancer growth. Breast Cancer Res Treat, 1997; 45:169-179.
Bennett JA, Zhu S, Pagano-Mirarchi A, Kellom TA, Jacobson HI. Alpha-fetoprotein derived from a human hepatoma prevents growth of estrogen-dependent human breast cancer xenografts. Clin Cancer Res, 1998; 4:2877-2884.
Mesfin FB, Andersen TT, Jacobson HI, Zhu SM, Bennett JA. Development of a synthetic cyclized peptide derived from alpha-fetoprotein that prevents the growth of human breast cancer. J Peptide Res, 2001; 58:246-256.
Bennett JA, Mesfin FB, Andersen TT, Gierthy JF, Jacobson HI. A peptide derived from alpha-fetoprotein prevents the growth of estrogen-dependent human breast cancers sensitive and resistant to Tamoxifen. Proc Natl Acad Sci (US), 2002; 99:2211-2215.
Lin H-Y, Shih A, Davis FB, Tang H-Y, Martino LJ, Bennett JA, Davis PJ. Resveratrol-induced serine phosphorylation of p53 causes apoptosis in a mutant p53 prostate cancer cell line. J Urology, 2002; 168:748-755.