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View the Table of Contents for the June 2008 issue of Molecular Cancer Therapeutics
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Rituxan, an anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody that depletes B cells by targeting the antigen CD20, has been clinically used for B cell-related hematological malignancies, autoimmune diseases and other disorders. However, the complicated manufacturing procedure, high costs, and short half-life of Rituxan in sera heavily limit its wide-spread applications. Chen and colleagues generated a recombinant adenovirus that encodes the Rituxan gene and generates high levels of full-length functional monoclonal anti-CD20 antibody in vivo. A single administration of the adenovirus led a continuous B cell deletion in cynomolgus monkeys for at least 70 days. Thus, the anti-CD20 antibody expressing adenovirus may be used as a potential anti-CD20 gene therapy system for the treatment of B cell-related malignant disorders.
Wallach-Dayan et al. Page 1615 Therapeutic targeting of a CD44 variant preferentially expressed on cancer cells may spare cells engaged in normal physiological functions. Wallach-Dayan and colleagues showed the advantage of gene vaccination against mammary tumor with a novel medical tubular device mimicking a lymph node (termed virtual lymphnode; VLN), which was loaded with specific CD44 variant (CD44v) cDNA and inserted under the mouse skin. Antigen presenting cells penetrating into the VLN translate the cDNA to cell surface CD44 and present it to lymphocytes, resulting in anti-CD44v antibody production. The vaccinated mice developed resistance to a tumor expressing the corresponding CD44 variant.
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