Biomarkers for targeted therapeutics

Even with the impressive amount of new precision drugs in cancer therapy, these drugs are not effective in all patients. This project aims improve patient stratification for antibody drug conjugates (ADCs), an up and coming drug class in precision medicine. We have solid research data showing that a novel type of biomarker, Rab5A GTPase involved in endocytosis, can be utilized to predict the outcome of ADC treatment in breast cancer (BC) (Fig1). Our research findings are based on the HER2 targeting ADC T-DM1. We are currently exploring the predictive properties of our biomarker for other ADCs as well as the mechanistic relationship between ADC and suggested biomarker. Furthermore, The ADC mechanism of action is not dependent on cancer indication, and we are therefore validating our findings for other cancer indications. The project is awarded a PhD fellowship from Helse Sør-Øst assigned Astrid Medhus.

Our vision with this project is to establish a standardized method to better predict ADC response in all forms of cancer. This will be a game changer in current and future precision medicine, not only for the treated patients, but also for the patients not likely to respond as they can be spared for unnecessary treatment and adverse effects. We are at the frontline of this new field of ADC biomarkers, which offer better precision medicine to cancer patients. The project is admitted to SPARK Norway and has received 2 innovation grants from Helse Sør-Øst.

You can read more about the innovation project here: Rab5project.com