Cancer

Patient sample and mouse studies suggest anti-ANTXR1 antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) could help treat solid tumors. In tissue samples from esophageal, kidney, uterine, colorectal, breast, lung, ovarian and pancreatic cancer patients, tumor stroma levels of ANTXR1 were higher than in adjacent normal tissue. In xenograft mouse models of colorectal, breast, lung, ovarian, and pancreatic cancer, an ADC consisting of a human mAb against ANTXR1 linked to the antimitotic agent monomethyl auristatin E (MMAE) decreased tumor size compared with vehicle. In the xenograft models of pancreatic cancer and colorectal cancer, the ADC increased survival compared with vehicle, and the ADC plus gemcitabine decreased tumor size compared with either agent alone. Next steps include optimizing the potency of the ADC...