Treating cancer as an infectious disease--viral antigens as novel targets for treatment and potential prevention of tumors of viral etiology.
BACKGROUND
Nearly 20% of human cancers worldwide have an infectious etiology with the most prominent examples being hepatitis B and C virus-associated hepatocellular carcinoma and human papilloma virus-associated cervical cancer. There is an urgent need to find new approaches to treatment and prevention of virus-associated cancers.


RESULTS
Viral antigens have not been previously considered as targets for treatment or prevention of virus-associated cancers. We hypothesized that it was possible to treat experimental HPV16-associated cervical cancer (CC) and Hepatitis B-associated hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by targeting viral antigens expressed on cancer cells with radiolabeled antibodies to viral antigens. Treatment of experimental CC and HCC tumors with (188)Re-labeled mAbs to E6 and HBx viral proteins, respectively, resulted in significant and dose-dependent retardation of tumor growth in comparison with untreated mice or mice treated with unlabeled antibodies.


CONCLUSIONS
This strategy is fundamentally different from the prior uses of radioimmunotherapy in oncology, which targeted tumor-associated human antigens and promises increased specificity and minimal toxicity of treatment. It also raises an exciting possibility to prevent virus-associated cancers in chronically infected patients by eliminating cells infected with oncogenic viruses before they transform into cancer.
Wang
Xing Guo
XG
Department of Nuclear Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, United States of America.
Revskaya
Ekaterina
E
Bryan
Ruth A
RA
Strickler
Howard D
HD
Burk
Robert D
RD
Casadevall
Arturo
A
Dadachova
Ekaterina
E
D000818:Animals; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000737:chemistry; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000821:virology; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D005260:Female; D006505:Hepatitis / Q000150:complications; D006801:Humans; D008495:Medical Oncology / Q000379:methods; D051379:Mice; D008819:Mice, Nude; D008954:Models, Biological; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000821:virology*; D027383:Papillomaviridae / Q000378:metabolism; D016499:Radioimmunotherapy / Q000379:methods; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000821:virology
D000956:Antigens, Viral