Autoantibodies as Anti-cancer Therapeutic Agents

TITLE:          Autoantibodies as Anti-cancer Therapeutic Agents

CASE NUMBER:    C13604

UNMET NEED

      It has been speculated that autoimmunity and cancer were linked but the missing step was how to turn that concept into a robust method for identifying which specific auto antibodies would be generally effective. This problem was especially acute due to the limited amount of starting material in primary patient sera. To overcome this limitation JHU researchers developed a 3D culture model using primary tumor tissue and demonstrated dose-dependent inhibition of cancer growth and invasion with IgG samples from patients with diverse autoimmune diseases and diverse predominant auto-antigens.

TECHNICAL DETAILS

The Inventors collected sera from patients with autoimmune disease and isolated the total IgG fraction using a column. The IgG fraction was then tested for its ability to bind human tumor samples using immunofluorescence and also tested for its functional ability to inhibit invasion in 3D cultures of primary human breast tumors. The results indicates that autoantibodies may play a role in controlling tumor progression by targeting gene products associated with aberrant proliferation or cell invasion. These autoantibodies can be used for diagnostic, screening and as therapeutics for cancer.

MAJOR RESULTS

1)       Developed a platform to identify which patient-derived autoantibodies were efficacious in inhibiting the growth and invasion of human breast tumor samples.

2)       Optimized a protocol for efficient isolation of tumor organoids from human breast cancer.

3)       First evidence that autoantibodies from patients with autoimmune diseases specifically recognize antigens expressed in human breast tumors from unrelated patients.

4)       Autoantibodies alter tumor growth and invasion in 3D organotypic cultures ‐ some autoantibodies increase tumor invasion and/or invasion, while others decrease it.

DISEASE INDICATION

Cancers/Autoimmune Diseases 

ASSOCIATED PUBLICATIONS

-  Master’s Thesis Defense -

TECHNOLOGY CLASSIFICATION

Primary Category: Therapeutics

Primary Subcategory: Immunotherapy

ASSOCIATED REPORTS OF INVENTION (ROIs) AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY (IP) FILING NUMBERS

ROI #: C13604                                                                   

TITLE: AUTOIMMUNE ANTIBODIES FOR USE IN INHIBITING CANCER CELL GROWTH

STATUS: US Provisional                         

PRIORITY DATE: 5/11/2015

IP FILING NUMBERS: 62/159,696