Antibody therapy in cancer Flashcards
LO
Part A
Immunotherapy
Antibodies
Monoclonal antibodies
Part B
Therapeutic antibodies
Effector mechanisms
Part C
Examples of therapeuci mAb
Anti-Id; CD20; Herceptin and cetuximab; immunomodulatory
Part D
Optional- how we try to define effector mechanisms
Why do we need new therapies?
Increasing intensity doesnt equal better outcomes
Who was the father of immunotherapy?
William B. Coley
Explain the work that William B. Coley undertook, the experiments he did and the outcome
- For many the father of immunotherapy was William B. Coley.
- An outstanding New York Surgeon who claimed to cure inoperable tumours using an extract of various bacteria.
- He was trained at Harvard medical school on a three-year programme.
- In fact, he entered straight into the second year on the basis that he had spent a summer as an assistant to his uncle travelling round on a horse and trap visiting sick patients.
- After just one year he had a summer job as Junior Assistant Surgeon in a New York Hospital and after his first week wrote to his girlfriend saying that he had had a fantastic week having in his first week sewed on a patient finger.
- So, I am sure that our Professor of Surgery will agree that Surgical training has changed little.
- However, he has helpless in the face of the many advanced cancers he saw and started to investigate alternative approaches.
- He became fascinated by reports of rare spontaneous regressions in very advanced disease.
- What he called ‘Natures little miracles.
- He was also intrigued by the observation that certain cancers would regress quite markedly during a fever followed infection.
- As a result, in the late 1900 century Coley and other physicians started to deliberately infect cancer patient’s various strains of streptococcus bacteria or applying gangrene carrying bandages to the cancer.
- This could be achieved by moving the patient into the bed of a patient already carrying such an infection.
- Unfortunately, and despite claiming some improvements in disease, patients were apt of die from infections, so the practice did not gain support.
- These were described as ‘practical difficulties. What Coley did observe was that the infection and the therapeutic activity were separate events and he believed that a ‘factor’ or ‘active principle’ existed that might be separated from the infective part of the treatment.
- The mixture he extracted became known as Coley’s toxin and he claimed huge considerable success. But science is all about time and place and William Coley’s time had not arrived.
- Others could not repeat his success and the X-ray machine was about to arrive which gave Oncologists an easy-to-use treatment that brought instant success. So what was Coley’s toxin doing?
- It is difficult to know how much Coley appreciate about what he was doing, but now we have a much clearer picture it involves the immune system. The body’s immune system has evolved to cope with infection and by stimulating a profound response Coley was probably producing beneficial side effects of boosting immune response against the cancer.
- The same kind of response that occasionally produced natures little miracles. that we are only now starting to understand. was success later claimed to have performed 360 hernia operations with a single infection-related death.
From William B. Coleys experiments, what did we learn?
- A tumour is genetically unstable
- Continuously generates new variants of itself
- The immune system kills most
- ‘successful’ variants survive
- Many of these hijacked immune control systems or checkpoints
- Tumour evades immune rejection
What is some evidence of cancer immune surveillance?
- Spontaneous regression in patients diagnosed with melanoma, RCC
- Cancer incidence high in immune suppressed host
E.g., human transplant recipients
Immune deficient mice
- Immune escape
Ag loss (stealth tactics)
- Active local immune evasion
What do TIL (tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes) mediate and what does this correlate with?
The TIL mediate tumour rejection and correlate with survival
Immunotherapy uses the immune system to fight cancer. What aspects of the immune system are used to do this?
Whats the structure of an Immunoglobulin?
- Y shaped glycoprotein
- 2 identical heavy chains (50-70 kDa) and 2 identical light chains (25 kDa)
- Fab (fragment antigen binding) bind antigen
- Fc (fragment crystallisable) bind to Fc receptors (changes structure depending on class- IgM, IgD, IgG, IgE, IgA)
- Theres a sugar in the middle of the antibody that (in the Fc regions)
The antibody revolution: approved* Ab therapeutics since 1997
Tell me the stages to monoclonal Ab technology
- Mouse is immunised with antigen X, and mouse spleen produced plasma cells that secrete antibodies against the antigen
- Myeloma cells unable to produce antibodies or HGPRT are selected
- Mouse spleen is removed. Plasma cells from spleen are isolated and mixed with myeloma cells. cell fusion is induced to produce hybridomas
- Cells are transferred to HAT medium
- Hybridomas that produce antibodies specific to antigen X are selected and grown into bulk
Why are monoclonal Ab used?
- The same every time so easier to work with
- Can generate forever. Once generated the hybridoma it is immortal and continues to generate the antibody forever
- Myeloma cells are immortal cancer cells that used to be plasma cells
What are some key developments in antibody immunotherapy?
What are some of the advantages of this?
Chimerisation and humanisation of antibodies
Advantages:
- Reduced immunogenicity
- Improved effector engagement
- Improved half-life
Modular recombination is a key development in antibody immunotherapy. Tell me some of the formats of this and what they are
- F(ab) which is one binding arm on its own
- Single chain FV (scFV) which is an even smaller part of variable domain
- Bispecific: one arm binds to one thing and the other to something else (recent development in cancer therapeutics)
- Certain receptors where ligands are trimers (try to mimic with a three arm antibody)
What are some considerations for mAb alternatives?
Do we want effector functions (Fab2/Fab)
Do we want multiple specificities? (BsAb)
Do we want the mAb to circulate for a long period of time? (No Fc – rapid half-life)
Can we improve on tissue penetration (smaller size, the better)
What is associated with greater tumour-targeting specificity than IgG?
Diabody
Currently approved mAbs for cancer
Many oncology antibodies in the clinic are directed to the same target
What was the first mAb approved for the treatment of malignant disease?
Rituximab
Rituximab the archetypal direct targeting mAb
- Rituximab was the first monoclonal antibody approved for the treatment of malignant disease
- On introduction has had one of the most significant impacts on patient responses in 30 years (in combination with chemotherapy)
- Since treated several million people
How do mAb work?
- A MAB works by recognising and finding specific proteins on cells. Some work on cancer cells, others target proteins on cells of the immune system.
- Each MAB recognises one particular protein. They work in different ways depending on the protein they are targeting.
- MABs work as an immunotherapy in different ways. Some MABs work in more than one way.
- They can:
- trigger the immune system to attack and kill cancer cells
- act on cells to help the immune system attack cancer cells
Complement dependent cytotoxicity
What are some signalling properties of monoclonal antibodies and give an example of a mAb that undertakes each one
Signalling properties
- Induce signals resulting in growth inhibition/ death of the cell
E.g., anti-Idiotype
- Prevent signals necessary for tumour cell survival
e. g., Herceptin - Prevent signals necessary for tumour cell proliferation
e. g., anti-growth factor receptors (e.g., avastin)
Direct cell death of tumour cells
How do mAbs work?
Effector cells engage a family of related receptors: FcgammaRs
What are some consequences of FCgammaR ligation?
- NK cells- only express activator R (CD16)
- Activatory FcgammaR signal through ITAMs on associated gamma chain
- B cells express only inhibitory FcgammaR (CD32)- inhibits response
- Other cells express both activatory and inhibitory FCgammaR (DC, mono, macro, etc.)
How do CD32b signal?
What effects does this lead to?
via an ITIM
leads to…
- decreased proliferation
- decreased Ca2+ influx
- Apoptosis
Phagocytosis of tumour cells
Modulation of the FCgammaR response leads to what?
Cellular activation (complement factors, cytokines, TLR etc)
Genetics (FcR expression and function)