Publications by authors named "Heather J Bax"

Immunotherapies, including checkpoint inhibitor antibodies, have precipitated significant improvements in clinical outcomes for melanoma. However, approximately half of patients do not benefit from approved treatments. Additionally, apart from Tebentafusp, which is approved for the treatment of uveal melanoma, there is a lack of immunotherapies directly focused on melanoma cells.

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Derived from the myeloid lineage, granulocytes, including basophils, eosinophils, and neutrophils, along with mast cells, play important, often disparate, roles across the allergic disease spectrum. While these cells and their mediators are commonly associated with allergic inflammation, they also exhibit several functions either promoting or restricting tumor growth. In this Position Paper we discuss common granulocyte and mast cell features relating to immunomodulatory functions in allergy and in cancer.

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Epidemiological studies have explored the relationship between allergic diseases and cancer risk or prognosis in AllergoOncology. Some studies suggest an inverse association, but uncertainties remain, including in IgE-mediated diseases and glioma. Allergic disease stems from a Th2-biased immune response to allergens in predisposed atopic individuals.

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  • - A Phase I trial tested the safety and tolerability of MOv18 IgE, a new type of chimeric IgE antibody, in cancer patients whose tumors express folate receptor-alpha, with a focus on minimizing allergic reactions.
  • - The study involved dose escalation from 70 μg to 12 mg, using skin prick and basophil activation tests to identify low-risk patients; the main side effect noted was temporary hives, with one case of anaphylaxis linked to pre-existing reactive basophils.
  • - Results indicate that MOv18 IgE therapy is tolerable and shows potential anti-tumor activity, evidenced by a positive response in a patient with ovarian cancer, suggesting that IgE-based
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  • - B cells play a crucial role in the immune response against tumors, particularly in melanoma, but their specific functions and characteristics have not been fully explored until now.
  • - In this study, researchers found that memory B cells are more prevalent in tumors than in the bloodstream and exhibit unique antibody profiles that indicate processes like clonal expansion and affinity maturation.
  • - The presence of tumor-associated B cells with autoimmune-like traits and high levels of antibodies related to both autoimmune diseases and cancer suggests a dysregulated immune response in melanoma patients.
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  • Despite existing checkpoint inhibitor therapies, about half of melanoma patients still struggle with poor outcomes.
  • A new engineered monoclonal IgE antibody targeting the CSPG4 antigen shows promise by binding to melanoma cells and enhancing immune responses.
  • In studies, this IgE therapy significantly improved survival and anti-tumor activity in models, suggesting its potential as an effective treatment option for melanoma patients.
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  • * They can also be involved in chronic inflammation, infections, and potentially have roles in cancer, although they haven't been thoroughly studied in this context.
  • * Researchers are analyzing basophil gene expression in cancer patients to see how they relate to clinical outcomes and exploring their potential to predict reactions to cancer treatments and monitor patient responses.
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The immune system interacts with many nominal 'danger' signals, endogenous danger-associated (DAMP), exogenous pathogen (PAMP) and allergen (AAMP)-associated molecular patterns. The immune context under which these are received can promote or prevent immune activating or inflammatory mechanisms and may orchestrate diverse immune responses in allergy and cancer. Each can act either by favouring a respective pathology or by supporting the immune response to confer protective effects, depending on acuity or chronicity.

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IgE antibodies elicit powerful immune responses, recruiting effector cells to tumors more efficiently and with greater cytotoxicity than IgG antibodies. Consequently, IgE antibodies are a promising alternative to conventional IgG-based therapies in oncology (AllergoOncology). As the pharmacokinetics of IgE antibodies are less well understood, we used molecular imaging in mice to compare the distribution and elimination of IgE and IgG antibodies targeting the human tumor-associated antigen chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan 4 (CSPG4).

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  • IgE is primarily known for its role in allergic responses and parasite protection, but emerging evidence suggests it also plays a significant role in tumor immunosurveillance and cancer treatment through therapies like MOv18.
  • Epidemiological studies indicate that higher IgE levels and related allergic conditions may provide protective effects against certain cancers, while IgE deficiency is associated with increased cancer risk.
  • The complex relationship between IgE, allergy, and cancer calls for further exploration, which could lead to new therapeutic strategies that incorporate IgE-based treatments alongside standard IgG antibody therapies.
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Background: Cancer immunotherapy with monoclonal antibodies and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapies can benefit from selection of new targets with high levels of tumor specificity and from early assessments of efficacy and safety to derisk potential therapies.

Methods: Employing mass spectrometry, bioinformatics, immuno-mass spectrometry and CRISPR/Cas9 we identified the target of the tumor-specific SF-25 antibody. We engineered IgE and CAR T cell immunotherapies derived from the SF-25 clone and evaluated potential for cancer therapy.

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The contributions of the humoral immune response to melanoma are now widely recognized, with reports of positive prognostic value ascribed to tumor-infiltrating B cells (TIL-B) and increasing evidence of B cells as key predictors of patient response to treatment. There are disparate views as to the pro- and anti-tumor roles of B cells. B cells appear to play an integral role in forming tumor-associated tertiary lymphoid structures (TLSs) which can further modulate T cell activation.

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Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte associated protein-4 (CTLA-4) and the Programmed Death Receptor 1 (PD-1) are immune checkpoint molecules that are well-established targets of antibody immunotherapies for the management of malignant melanoma. The monoclonal antibodies, Ipilimumab, Pembrolizumab, and Nivolumab, designed to interfere with T cell inhibitory signals to activate immune responses against tumors, were originally approved as monotherapy. Treatment with a combination of immune checkpoint inhibitors may improve outcomes compared to monotherapy in certain patient groups and these clinical benefits may be derived from unique immune mechanisms of action.

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  • IgE plays a crucial role in enhancing the immune response during infections and has been shown to aid monocyte and macrophage recruitment, which is important for fighting tumors.
  • The study found that IgE stimulation of human monocytes leads to the activation of pro-inflammatory signals and improved tumor-killing functions, which could be beneficial for cancer treatment.
  • Insights from this research can help develop new IgE monoclonal antibody therapies aimed at boosting immune responses against cancer.
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Immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies are well known for their role in allergic diseases and for contributions to antiparasitic immune responses. Properties of this antibody class that mediate powerful effector functions may be redirected for the treatment of solid tumours. This has led to the rise of a new class of therapeutic antibodies to complement the armamentarium of approved tumour targeting antibodies, which to date are all IgG class.

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Birch pollen allergy is among the most prevalent pollen allergies in Northern and Central Europe. This IgE-mediated disease can be treated with allergen immunotherapy (AIT), which typically gives rise to IgG antibodies inducing tolerance. Although the main mechanisms of allergen immunotherapy (AIT) are known, questions regarding possible Fc-mediated effects of IgG antibodies remain unanswered.

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Basophils are involved in manifestations of hypersensitivity, however, the current understanding of their propensity for activation and their prognostic value in cancer patients remains unclear. As in healthy and atopic individuals, basophil populations were identified in blood from ovarian cancer patients ( = 53) with diverse tumor histologies and treatment histories. Ex vivo basophil activation was measured by CD63 expression using the basophil activation test (BAT).

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Currently, IgG is the only class of antibodies employed for cancer therapy. However, harnessing the unique biological properties of a different class ( e.g.

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  • IgE monoclonal antibodies show promise in cancer therapy, but their safety needs careful evaluation in preclinical systems that mimic human conditions and immune responses.
  • Researchers created an immunocompetent rat model to test a rat-designed IgE antibody that targets CSPG4, a protein associated with human tumors, to understand its safety profile.
  • The study found that while the antibody induced some mild adverse effects, it was generally well tolerated over time, suggesting that this rat model could effectively assess the safety of IgE antibody therapies targeting CSPG4.
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Immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies are well known for their role in mediating allergic reactions, and their powerful effector functions activated through binding to Fc receptors FcεRI and FcεRII/CD23. Structural studies of IgE-Fc alone, and when bound to these receptors, surprisingly revealed not only an acutely bent Fc conformation, but also subtle allosteric communication between the two distant receptor-binding sites. The ability of IgE-Fc to undergo more extreme conformational changes emerged from structures of complexes with anti-IgE antibodies, including omalizumab, in clinical use for allergic disease; flexibility is clearly critical for IgE function, but may also be exploited by allosteric interference to inhibit IgE activity for therapeutic benefit.

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Immune and inflammatory cascades may play multiple roles in ovarian cancer. We aimed to identify relationships between expression of immune and inflammatory mediators and patient outcomes. We interrogated differential gene expression of 44 markers and marker combinations (n = 1,978) in 1,656 ovarian carcinoma patient tumors, alongside matched 5-year overall survival (OS) data in silico.

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