Favorable therapeutic response after anti-Mesothelin antibody-drug conjugate treatment requires high expression of Mesothelin in tumor cells.

Purpose: The cell surface glycoprotein Mesothelin is overexpressed in ovarian, fallopian tube, endometrial, cervical and primary peritoneal cancer and, therefore, might become a particular interesting tumor target in gynecologic oncology. However, even in malignant tumors of the same entity the level of Mesothelin expression varies between individuals, hence it can be expected that the response to Mesothelin-targeting therapies will be variable as well. In this study we explored the therapeutic potency of a novel anti-Mesothelin antibody-drug conjugate (Anetumab ravtansine) as a function of Mesothelin expression in the targeted tumor cells.

Mesothelin as a target for cervical cancer therapy.

Purpose: The cell surface glycoprotein Mesothelin is overexpressed in several tumor entities and novel immune-based therapies are currently under the early clinical evaluation for the treatment of malignant pleura mesothelioma, ovarian cancer, and pancreatic cancer. Cervical cancer has not been recognized as a suitable target for Mesothelin-directed immune therapies so far.

Methods: To exploit a possible role of Mesothelin in cervical cancer treatment, we analysed Mesothelin expression in 79 cervical carcinomas and aligned expressions patterns with tumor growth parameters.