truly exciting her2 bc research finding--still in micem but hopeful!!!

[Lani]

1: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2008 Oct 6. [Epub ahead of print]

Antibodies targeted to TRAIL receptor-2 and ErbB-2 synergize in vivo and induce an antitumor immune response.

Stagg J, Sharkey J, Pommey S, Young R, Takeda K, Yagita H, Johnstone RW, Smyth MJ.
Cancer Immunology Program, Sir Donald and Lady Trescowthick Laboratories, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, East Melbourne 3002, Australia;
Despite the development of human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (ErbB-2/HER2)-targeted therapies, there remains an unmet medical need for breast cancer patients with ErbB-2 overexpression. We investigated the therapeutic activity of an agonist mAb to mouse tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) receptor-2 (DR5) against ErbB2-driven breast cancer. Established tumors in BALB/c transgenic mice expressing a constitutively active ErbB-2/neuT were treated with anti-DR5 mAb and/or anti-ErbB-2 mAb and monitored for tumor progression. Treatment with anti-DR5 or anti-ErbB2 mAb as single agents significantly delayed tumor growth, although all tumors eventually progressed. Remarkably, treatment with a combination of anti-DR5 and anti-ErbB-2 mAbs induced complete response in a majority of mice. In vivo blockade of CD11b(+) cells, but not natural killer cell depletion, significantly abrogated the early antitumor response. Notably, depletion of CD8(+) T cells provoked primary and secondary tumor relapse, revealing the induction of antitumor immunity by the combination treatment. Combined therapy with anti-DR5 and anti-ErbB-2 mAbs further significantly suppressed the growth of advanced spontaneous tumors in ErbB-2/neuT transgenic mice, even when treatment was delayed until tumors were palpable. We thus demonstrated that the combination of anti-DR5 and anti-ErbB2 mAbs might be an effective form of treatment for ErbB-2-overexpressing breast cancer.
PMID: 18838682 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]