A phase 1 clinical trial of the selective BTK inhibitor ONO/GS-4059 in relapsed and refractory mature B-cell malignancies.

We report the results of a multicenter phase 1 dose-escalation study of the selective Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor ONO/GS-4059 in 90 patients with relapsed/refractory B-cell malignancies. There were 9 dose-escalation cohorts ranging from 20 mg to 600 mg once daily with twice-daily regimens of 240 mg and 300 mg. Twenty-four of 25 evaluable chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients (96%) responded to ONO/GS-4059, with a median treatment duration of 80 weeks; 21 CLL patients remain on treatment.

Production and binding analyses of a humanised scFv against a cryptic epitope on tumour-associated fibronectin.

Tumour-associated splice variants of fibronectin are a major source of tumour-matrix associated targets and are proving very successful in the development of clinical agents to treat cancer. One of the first monoclonal antibodies to be produced to this target, murine BC-1, recognises a cryptic epitope in domain 7 of the B-form splice variant (EDB-FN). Antibody fragments based on this immunoglobulin (IgG) were unstable, but BC-1 humanisation provided an opportunity to produce a more stable single-chain Fv (scFv).

Antibody targeting of Cathepsin S induces antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity.

Background: Proteolytic enzymes have been implicated in driving tumor progression by means of their cancer cell microenvironment activity where they promote proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, migration, and invasion. Therapeutic strategies have focused on attenuating their activity using small molecule inhibitors, but the association of proteases with the cell surface during cancer progression opens up the possibility of targeting these using antibody dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC). Cathepsin S is a lysosomal cysteine protease that promotes the growth and invasion of tumour and endothelial cells during cancer progression.

Phase I dose escalation pharmacokinetic assessment of intravenous humanized anti-MUC1 antibody AS1402 in patients with advanced breast cancer.

Introduction: MUC1 is a cell-surface glycoprotein that establishes a molecular barrier at the epithelial surface and engages in morphogenetic signal transduction. Alterations in MUC1 glycosylation accompany the development of cancer and influence cellular growth, differentiation, transformation, adhesion, invasion, and immune surveillance. A 20-amino-acid tandem repeat that forms the core protein of MUC1 is overexpressed and aberrantly glycosylated in the majority of epithelial tumors.

Plasma membrane nucleolin is a receptor for the anticancer aptamer AS1411 in MV4-11 leukemia cells.

AS1411 is a DNA aptamer that is in phase II clinical trials for relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia and for renal cell carcinoma. AS1411 binds to nucleolin, a protein that is overexpressed in the cytoplasm and on the plasma membrane of some tumor cells compared with normal cells. Studies were performed to determine whether cell surface nucleolin is a receptor for AS1411 in the acute myeloid leukemia cell line MV4-11.

The nucleolin targeting aptamer AS1411 destabilizes Bcl-2 messenger RNA in human breast cancer cells.

We sought to determine whether nucleolin, a bcl-2 mRNA-binding protein, has a role in the regulation of bcl-2 mRNA stability in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. Furthermore, we examined the efficacy of the aptamer AS1411 in targeting nucleolin and inducing bcl-2 mRNA instability and cytotoxicity in these cells. AS1411 at 5 micromol/L inhibited the growth of MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells, whereas 20 micromol/L AS1411 had no effect on the growth rate or viability of normal MCF-10A mammary epithelial cells.

huBC1-IL12, an immunocytokine which targets EDB-containing oncofetal fibronectin in tumors and tumor vasculature, shows potent anti-tumor activity in human tumor models.

IL-12 is a cytokine which showed anti-tumor effects in clinical trials, but also produced serious toxicity. We describe a fusion protein, huBC1-IL12, designed to achieve an improved therapeutic index by specifically targeting IL-12 to tumor and tumor vasculature. huBC-1 is a humanized antibody that targets a cryptic sequence of the human ED-B-containing fibronectin isoform, B-FN, present in the subendothelial extracellular matrix of most aggressive tumors.