*Non-MS Article. Anibody Treatment For Cancer*

[Guest guest]

Hello all. Thought this was interesting and worth passing on. Of

course the trials are in mice, not humans, and any treatment, I would

guess would be a few years off unles sif was very successful, few side

effects and was then fast-tracked:

Cancer destroyed by antibody 'triple whammy'

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Cancer destroyed by antibody 'triple whammy'

* 12:43 10 May 2006

* NewScientist.com news service

* Prashant Nair

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A new cancer therapy using a " triple whammy " of antibodies has shown

unprecedented success in mice. Not only does the treatment destroy

tumours - even when they have spread around the body - it also prevents

the tumours coming back. And the approach should work for a range of

cancers.

Success in mice is far from a guarantee of success in people, but human

trials have now begun on one component of the therapy.

The research, by scientists in Australia and Japan, is " an exciting

advance " , according to cancer biologist Carl June of the University of

Pennsylvania, US: " This novel form of therapeutic vaccination would not

only enable potent tumour eradication but also protect from recurrence. "

The idea of using the body's immune system to kill cancerous cells is

already routinely deployed. Our immune system contains killer white

blood cells called cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs), which single out and

destroy tumours. But the body's natural response to cancerous cells is

often not strong enough to wipe out the tumour.

Calling reinforcements

The new therapy, called TrimAb (triple monoclonal antibody) therapy, may

solve that problem. Mark Smyth, at the MacCallum Cancer Centre in

Australia, Kazuyoshi Takeda, at the Juntendo University School of

Medicine in Japan, and colleagues used a cocktail of three different

antibodies.

The first attacks the tumour directly, by stimulating the receptor for a

death-inducing protein on tumour cells, called TRAIL. The boost that

strengthens the response comes from the other two antibodies which

activate killer T-cells that pitch in to kill the tumour.

TrimAb cleared large breast tumours in 80% of the mice that received the

treatment, while the tumour disappeared in less than 30% of mice that

got either single antibodies or double antibody combinations. And

furthermore, the therapy induced a complete cure in 60% of the mice in

which the breast cancer had spread to the lungs, liver, and brain.

Key to destruction

TrimAb causes T-cells to produce an immune molecule named interferon

gamma. " This molecule is key to tumour destruction " , Smyth told New

Scientist. While TrimAb elicited the killer molecule in the lymph nodes

of treated mice, treatments with a single or a pair of antibodies did

not. " TrimAb also recruits a higher frequency of CTLs to attack the

tumour, " he adds.

Many cancers express TRAIL, so TrimAb is not just specific for breast

cancers. In particular, says Smyth, it works for renal cancer and

sarcomas, and colon cancer is a promising target.

TrimAb prevents the recurrence of cancer because destroying the tumours

presents the immune system with antigens, priming it for the future. A

specific advantage of this is that the immune system is then primed

against that particular tumour.

Three antibody combinations have never been used in patients to treat

cancers, says Smyth. Although the combination was non-toxic to mice,

careful pilot testing of each component and combination needs to be done

in human trials, he cautions. The team is now awaiting results of Phase

I trials involving humanised anti-TRAIL antibodies.

Journal reference: Nature Medicine (DOI: 10.1038/nm1405)

Cheers, Adam