Expression of the oncofetal ED-B-containing fibronectin isoform in hematologic tumors enables ED-B-targeted 131I-L19SIP radioimmunotherapy in Hodgkin lymphoma patients.
Current treatment of hematologic malignancies involves rather unspecific chemotherapy, frequently resulting in severe adverse events. Thus, modern clinical research focuses on compounds able to discriminate malignant from normal tissues. Being expressed in newly formed blood vessels of solid cancers but not in normal mature tissues, the extradomain B of fibronectin (ED-B FN) is a promising target for selective cancer therapies. Using immunohistology with a new epitope retrieval technique for paraffin-embedded tissues, ED-B FN expression was found in biopsies from more than 200 Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma patients of nearly all entities, and in patients with myeloproliferative diseases. ED-B FN expression was nearly absent in normal lymph nodes (n = 10) and bone marrow biopsies (n = 9). The extent of vascular ED-B FN expression in lymphoma tissues was positively correlated with grade of malignancy. ED-B FN expression was enhanced in lymph nodes with severe lymphadenopathy and in some hyperplastic tonsils. The in vivo accessibility of ED-B FN was confirmed in 3 lymphoma patients, in whom the lymphoma lesions were visualized on scintigraphy with (131)I-labeled L19 small immunoprotein ((131)I-L19SIP). In 2 relapsed Hodgkin lymphoma patients(131)I-L19SIP radioimmunotherapy induced a sustained partial response, qualifying ED-B FN as a promising target for antibody-based lymphoma therapies.
Sauer
Stefanie
S
Department of Pathology, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Charité-Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, Germany.
Erba
Paola A
PA
Petrini
Mario
M
Menrad
Andreas
A
Giovannoni
Leonardo
L
Grana
Chiara
C
Hirsch
Burkhard
B
Zardi
Luciano
L
Paganelli
Giovanni
G
Mariani
Giuliano
G
Neri
Dario
D
Dürkop
Horst
H
Menssen
Hans D
HD
D000818:Animals; D000906:Antibodies / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005353:Fibronectins / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D019298:Glucose-6-Phosphate / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D006689:Hodgkin Disease / Q000378:metabolism / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D051379:Mice; D008819:Mice, Nude; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D020033:Protein Isoforms / Q000096:biosynthesis; D016499:Radioimmunotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon
D000906:Antibodies; C067625:FN1 protein, human; D005353:Fibronectins; D020033:Protein Isoforms; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; C513931:SIP(L19) fusion protein; C047515:2-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose-6-phosphate; D019298:Glucose-6-Phosphate