Expanding the use of monoclonal antibody therapy of cancer by using ionising radiation to upregulate antibody targets.

Publication/Presentation Date

3-18-2014

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Monoclonal antibody (mAb) therapy for the treatment of solid and haematologic malignancies has shown poor response rates as a monotherapy. Furthermore, its use is limited to tumours expressing certain molecular targets. It has been shown that single-dose radiation can induce immunogenic modulation that is characterised by cell-surface phenotypic changes leading to augmented tumour cell/cytotoxic T-cell interaction.

METHODS: We examined radiation's ability to upregulate mAb therapy targets. We also used radiation to sensitise tumour cells to antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC).

RESULTS: Radiation significantly increased cell-surface and total protein expression of mAb targets HER2, EGFR, and CD20. Focusing on HER2, targeted by trastuzumab, we observed significant upregulation of HER2 following radiation of 3 out of 3 breast cancer cell lines, one of which was triple negative, as well as in residential stem-cell populations. HER2 upregulation was sustained up to 96 h following radiation exposure and was largely dependent on intracellular reactive oxygen species. Improved ADCC and sensitisation to the antiproliferative effects of trastuzumab demonstrated the functional significance of radiation-induced HER2 upregulation.

CONCLUSIONS: We show that single-dose radiation enhances mAb therapy. These findings highlight a mechanism for combining radiation with immunotherapy and expand the patient population that can be treated with targeted therapy.

Volume

110

Issue

6

First Page

1472

Last Page

1480

ISSN

1532-1827

Disciplines

Business Administration, Management, and Operations | Health and Medical Administration | Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods

PubMedID

24556625

Department(s)

Administration and Leadership

Document Type

Article

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