May 1 Clinical Cancer Research Highlights

The identification of novel biomarkers and molecular targets is of interest to researchers and could be used to improve cancer treatment. To search for novel biomarkers, Kawanishi and colleagues established a proteomics approach for analyzing the culture supernatant of cancer cell lines. Applying this approach, they compared the secreted proteins from various bladder cancer cell lines with different invasive ability, and identified the chemokine CXCL1 as a mediator of tumor invasion both in vitro and in vivo. They found that CXCL1 could induce MMP-13 in an autocrine manner, and further showed that urinary levels of CXCL1 could be used to successfully predict the presence of invasive bladder cancer.

 

Epithelial ovarian cancer in first remission has high recurrence rates, and immune intervention may offer therapeutic benefit. The cancer-testis antigen NY-ESO-1 is expressed in over 40% of advanced epithelial ovarian cancers and demonstrates strong spontaneous immunogenicity in some patients. Here, Diefenbach, Gnjatic and colleagues describe the results of a phase I clinical study in which 9 epithelial ovarian cancer patients in high-risk first remission received a NY-ESO-1b peptide vaccine formulated in incomplete Freund’s adjuvant. The vaccine was well tolerated and able to induce immune responses in the majority of patients. This study extends the current knowledge of cancer-testis antigen vaccination approaches in cancer patients. 

The cell surface glycoprotein CS1 has not been previously associated with multiple myeloma. Here, Hsi and colleagues find that CS1 is highly expressed in primary myeloma cells, but has limited expression in normal tissues. To investigate the potential of CS1 as a therapeutic target in multiple myeloma, a humanized monoclonal anti-CS1 antibody, HuLuc63, was generated and tested in preclinical models of multiple myeloma. HuLuc63 mediated antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity towards myeloma cells in vitro and inhibited the growth of human myeloma xenograft tumors in vivo in mice. This study provides the rationale for a phase I clinical trial of HuLuc63 in patients with relapsed/refractory myeloma.