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Sato S, Nakagawa M, Terashima T, Morinaga S, Miyagi Y, Yoshida E, Yoshimura T, Seiki M, Kaneko S, Ueno M, Yamashita T, Koshikawa N. EphA2 Proteolytic Fragment as a Sensitive Diagnostic Biomarker for Very Early-stage Pancreatic Ductal Carcinoma. CANCER RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS 2023; 3:1862-1874. [PMID: 37712876 PMCID: PMC10503484 DOI: 10.1158/2767-9764.crc-23-0087] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2023] [Revised: 05/17/2023] [Accepted: 08/21/2023] [Indexed: 09/16/2023]
Abstract
Cleavage of erythropoietin-producing hepatocellular ephrin receptor A2 (EphA2) triggers malignant progression and yields an N-terminal fragment (EphA2-NF) detectable in sera from patients with pancreatic ductal carcinoma. We established a quantitative automated chemiluminescence immunoassay for EphA2-NF and evaluated serum EphA2-NF levels as a biomarker to diagnose pancreatic ductal carcinoma in the test and validation cohorts. The EphA2-NF value was elevated (above the cutoff: mean ± SD) in more than half of the patients with stage I/II pancreatic ductal carcinoma. Among patients receiving standard chemotherapy for pancreatic ductal carcinoma [gemcitabine plus nab-paclitaxel (GnP)], the median survival time of patients with elevated serum EphA2-NF was half that of patients with values below the cutoff. Patients with intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN), a precancerous pancreatic ductal carcinoma lesion, also show high serum EphA2 levels, which are associated with an increase in pancreatic duct size and the development of pancreatic ductal carcinoma in some cases. IHC showed loss of EphA2-NF staining in IPMN with pancreatic ductal carcinoma, but not in the normal epithelium or IPMN without pancreatic ductal carcinoma, regardless of the histologic grade. These results suggest that EphA2 cleavage is an essential event that occurs very early in pancreatic ductal carcinoma development, and that the consequent release of EphA2-NF can be detected in the serum. Thus, serum EphA2-NF could be a diagnostic biomarker for very early-stage pancreatic ductal carcinoma and pancreatic ductal carcinoma development from high-risk IPMN and as a prognostic biomarker after chemotherapy with GnP. SIGNIFICANCE EphA2 N-terminus deletion is involved in pancreatic ductal carcinoma development from high-risk IPMN and EphA2-NF produced by cleavage can be used as a serum biomarker to diagnose pancreatic ductal carcinoma and predict pancreatic ductal carcinoma development from high-risk IPMN.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shinya Sato
- Molecular Pathology and Genetics Division, Kanagawa Cancer Center Research Institute, Yokohama, Japan
- Department of Pathology, Kanagawa Cancer Center Hospital, Yokohama, Japan
- Morphological Analysis Laboratory, Kanagawa Cancer Center Research Institute, Yokohama, Japan
| | - Masatoshi Nakagawa
- Research and Development, Abbott Japan LLC, Chiba, Japan
- Department of Life Science and Technology, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yokohama, Japan
| | - Takeshi Terashima
- Advanced Preventive Medical Sciences Research Center, Kanazawa University Hospital, Kanazawa, Japan
| | - Soichiro Morinaga
- Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, Kanagawa Cancer Center Hospital, Yokohama, Japan
| | - Yohei Miyagi
- Molecular Pathology and Genetics Division, Kanagawa Cancer Center Research Institute, Yokohama, Japan
- Department of Pathology, Kanagawa Cancer Center Hospital, Yokohama, Japan
| | - Eisaku Yoshida
- Morphological Analysis Laboratory, Kanagawa Cancer Center Research Institute, Yokohama, Japan
| | - Toru Yoshimura
- Morphological Analysis Laboratory, Kanagawa Cancer Center Research Institute, Yokohama, Japan
| | - Motoharu Seiki
- Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Japan
| | - Shuichi Kaneko
- Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Japan
| | - Makoto Ueno
- Department of Gastroenterology, Kanagawa Cancer Center Hospital, Yokohama, Japan
| | - Taro Yamashita
- Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Japan
| | - Naohiko Koshikawa
- Department of Life Science and Technology, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yokohama, Japan
- Clinical Cancer Proteomics Laboratory, Kanagawa Cancer Center Research Institute, Yokohama, Japan
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Kumar R. A Designer Strategy to Develop Novel Bispecific Cancer Therapeutic Antibodies. Clin Cancer Res 2023; 29:2570-2572. [PMID: 37265411 DOI: 10.1158/1078-0432.ccr-23-0737] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2023] [Revised: 04/13/2023] [Accepted: 05/08/2023] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
Therapeutic antibodies selectively targeting EPHA2 with or without co-targeting another receptor tyrosine kinase have been limited to date. By integrating state-of-art proteogenomic, ex vivo models, and short hairpin RNA screening approaches, a new designing strategy has now discovered a bispecific therapeutic antibody co-targeting EPHA2 and EGFR - which effectively inhibits tumor cell growth in various preclinical cancer models. This new antibody provides new tools to impair the acquired resistance to EGFR-directed therapies or co-target EPHA2 and EGFR in human tumor. See related article by El Zawily et al., p. 2686.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rakesh Kumar
- Cancer Research Institute, Himalayan Institute of Medical Sciences, Swami Rama Himalayan University, Dehradun, India
- Department of Medicine-Hematology and Oncology, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey
- Breast Cancer in Young Women Foundation, Denver, Colorado
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Badve SS, Gökmen-Polar Y. Targeting the Tumor-Tumor Microenvironment Crosstalk. Expert Opin Ther Targets 2023; 27:447-457. [PMID: 37395003 DOI: 10.1080/14728222.2023.2230362] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2023] [Accepted: 06/23/2023] [Indexed: 07/04/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Cancer development and progression is a complex process influenced by co-evolution of the cancer cells and their microenvironment. However, traditional anti-cancer therapy is mostly targeted toward cancer cells. To improve the efficacy of cancer drugs, the complex interactions between the tumor (T) and the tumor microenvironment (TME) should be considered while developing therapeutics. AREAS COVERED The present review article will discuss the components of T-TME as well as the potential to co-target these two distinct elements. We document that these approaches have resulted in success in preventing tumor progression and metastasis, albeit in animal models in some cases. Lastly, it is important to consider the tissue context and tumor type as these could significantly modify the role of these molecules/pathways and hence the overall likelihood of response. Furthermore, we discuss the potential strategies to target the components of tumor microenvironment in anti-cancer therapy. PubMed and ClinicalTrials.gov was searched through May 2023. EXPERT OPINION The tumor-tumor microenvironment cross talk and heterogeneity are major mechanisms conferring resistance to standard of care. Better understanding of the tissue specific T-TME interactions and dual targeting has the promise of improving cancer control and clinical outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sunil S Badve
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Yesim Gökmen-Polar
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
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