Researchers from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and from MIT are reporting the development of a new combination therapy that completely eliminates colon cancer, at least in laboratory mice. The technique is a type of radioimmunotherapy, which delivers radioactive particles directly to tumors on the backs of targeting antibodies that seek out those tumors.
In their study, the target was tumor antigen glycoprotein A33 using a bispecific antibody, plus hapten, a molecule that produces an immune response. The combination of attaching a radionuclide and getting the immune system to fight the tumor aggressively at the same time, and repeating this process, led the researchers to achieve a 100% healing rate in all the mice in the study treated using the new approach. Throughout the study, SPECT/CT was used to assess how the treatment was working and to help better understand how much dosage is best for the complete destruction of the tumors.
Interestingly, thanks to the precise targeting of the radiation sources, the rest of the body is not terribly affected. The researchers point out that they were not able to identify any radiation damage in the mice studied.
“If clinically successful, our approach will expand the repertoire of effective treatments for oncologic patients,” said the lead researchers in a published statement. “The system is designed as a ‘plug and play’ system, which allows for the use of many fine antibodies targeting human tumor antigens and is applicable, in principle, to virtually all solid and liquid tumors in man. There is a huge unmet need in oncology, especially for the solid tumors, for curative treatments for advanced disease. This includes, colon, breast, pancreas, melanoma, lung, and esophageal, to name a few.”
Study in The Journal of Nuclear Medicine: Curative Multicycle Radioimmunotherapy Monitored by Quantitative SPECT/CT-Based Theranostics, Using Bispecific Antibody Pretargeting Strategy in Colorectal Cancer…