Anti-cancer therapy with immunotoxin

Y. Andersson

In our group, we have long experience in immunotoxin research. Immunotoxins are dimeric proteins composed of a cancer specific antibody covalently linked to a toxin moiety. The antibody can deliver the molecule to cell surface receptors expressed on the malignant cells, theoretically leaving normal healthy cells unaffected. When internalized into the cells, the toxin effector moiety (here Pseudomonas exotoxin A, PE) will trigger cell death. Recently, we have demonstrated in detail how PE-containing immunotoxins kill human cancer cells. Such knowledge on how the ITs induce cell death is needed to be able to optimize the therapeutic usefulness of immunotoxins. Also, having distinct mechanisms for inducing cell death, the immunotoxins have the potential to synergize with other drug candidates. The immunotoxins have been evaluated in vitro and in human tumor models in rodents as well as in two clinical phase I studies.

We hope that the results from the on-going clinical trial and our current research efforts on combinations of immunotoxins and novel drugs, as well as new clinical usage of immunotoxins, will lead to an efficaceous and less toxic treatment that can benefit cancer patients for whom conventional treatment is no longer effective .

Importantly, the project is developed as a multidisciplinary effort through close collaboration with the clinicians.