Targeting Tumors

About

Background CAR and BiTE technology coupled with an scFv from an antibody against human Thymidine Kinase1 to specifically target tumors. Antibodies against tumor associated epitopes, are proving useful in many tumor therapies but are limited to antigens presented on the cell surface of tumors. Several antibodies have been identified and exploited against multiple types of cancers using passive immunization. Notable examples include rituximab (anti-CD20 for B-cell lymphomas) and trastuzumab (anti-HER-2/neu for certain breast cancers). Therapeutic antibodies have had success against tumors, eliciting both complement-mediated responses and antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC). However, administration of an anticancer antibody as a monotherapy is rare, and these are often combined with more traditional chemotherapy.  However, unless researchers are able to identify a cancer specific-yet-universal therapy to target all cancers, progress in the fight against cancer will also be limited. In the present study, we introduce the potential for one such novel immunotherapy: Thymidine Kinase 1 (TKl), a tumor biomarker known to be unregulated as an early event in virtually all types of major cancers.