Oct 2008 Charité Campus Benjamin Franklin, Department of Hematology and Oncology, Hindenburgdamm 30/31, D-12200 Berlin, Germany.
philipp.kiewe@charite.de
Ertumaxomab is an intact bispecific antibody targeting HER2/neu and CD3 with preferential binding to activating Fcgamma type I/III-receptors, resulting in the formation of a tri-cell complex among tumour cell, T cell and accessory cell. Recently,
the antibody demonstrated antitumour efficacy against HER2/neu low-expressing tumours resistant to trastuzumab. Data from a completed Phase I study in metastatic breast cancer patients indicates strong immune responses. Owing to efficient tumour cell destruction by humoral and T-cell-dependent mechanisms, differing from conventional HER2/neu directed treatments, and a potential for long-lasting antitumour immunoreactivity, ertumaxomab is at present investigated within
Phase II studies enrolling metastatic breast cancer patients even without HER2/neu gene amplification.