Researchers find antibody that may be used in future treatments for recurrent small-cell lung cancer

Researchers at Norris Cotton Cancer Center have found an antibody that may be used in future treatments for recurrent small-cell lung cancer, which currently has no effective therapy. The mouse monoclonal antibody they have developed, MAG-1, targets the ProAVP surface marker. When given alone, it significantly slows the growth of tumor xenografts of human recurrent small-cell lung cancer in mice. The study, "Growth Impairment of Small-Cell Cancer by Targeting Pro-Vasopressin with MAG-1 Antibody," was recently published online in Frontiers in Oncology.

"We are developing methods of antibody-targeted treatment for recurrent small-cell lung cancer," said lead author William G. North, PhD, professor of Physiology at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth and a member of the Norris Cotton Cancer Center. "Targeting with a humanized MAG-1 can likely be effective, especially when given in combination with chemotherapy, for treating a deadly disease for which there is no effective therapy."

North says his group has already generated a human chimeric form of MAG-1 that is equally effective as mouse MAG-1, and they are now generating a humanized form for use in patients.