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Treating Cancer as an Infectious Disease—Viral Antigens as Novel Targets for Treatment and Potential Prevention of Tumors of Viral Etiology

2007; Public Library of Science; Volume: 2; Issue: 10 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1371/journal.pone.0001114

1932-6203

Xing Guo Wang, Ekaterina Revskaya, Ruth Bryan, Howard D. Strickler, Robert D. Burk, Arturo Casadevall, Ekaterina Dadachova,

Virus-based gene therapy research

BackgroundNearly 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.Methodology/Principal FindingsViral 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 188Re-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/SignificanceThis 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.