Issues

Thymidine phosphorylase induction by docetaxel is a proposed mechanism for the observed preclinical synergy of docetaxel and capecitabine. Patients with Stage II–III breast cancer were treated with 4 cycles of neoadjuvant chemotherapy with docetaxel and capecitabine. Radiology-directed biopsies were performed at baseline and after the first dose of docetaxel and assayed for induction of thymidine phosphorylase expression by quantitative immunofluorescence. Images for the antigen (thymidine phosphorylase)-antibody complex labeled with Alexa-Fluor 568 (red) and nuclear density (green) were separately acquired and combined to form the image. For further details, please see Layman et al. on page 4092 in this issue.