EUCAAD

European Consortium for Anticancer Antibody Development

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'Cancer is the second leading cause of death in European countries, and one of the most imminent health problems in the developed world. Innovative, so-called targeted therapies are urgently needed that aim specifically at cancer cells or to cells of the stroma that support tumor growth. The ultimate goal of a targeted therapy is to increase anti-tumor efficacy with lowest possible side effects. Rapid and efficient translation of basic scientific advances into reagents, and targeted molecular leads for preclinical and clinical research and development based on scientific rationales and state-of-the-art technologies, optimally requires an interdisciplinary, collaborative, team-oriented approach. EUCAAD represents a virtual research institute in Europe and consists of 9 research participants including 4 SMEs devoted to the discovery and evaluation of new antibodies for therapy of human cancers. The consortium consists of researchers from SMEs and scientific and clinical centres that have gained international acclaim in this area of research, many of who have worked together in previous EU funded applications e.g. ANGIOSTOP, EUCAPS, ESTDAB and ENACT. Within the consortium there is unique expertise regarding target discovery, target validation, antibody production and initiation of clinical trials. As part of its efforts to translate laboratory research into viable cancer therapies the individual partners has accumulated an extensive portfolio of intellectual property providing a competitive edge to this application. The focus of the grant is the development and evaluation of antibodies against new target structures on tumour cells and blood vessels supplying tumours which are responsible for tumour angiogenesis, progression and metastasis. Collectively, the activities of this consortium can improve the cancer treatment standards in Europe and provide economic benefit to European biotechnology and pharmaceutical research by providing novel immunopharmaceuticals.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

European researchers have developed immunotherapeuticals that raise specific adaptive immune responses against cancer. Using our body's immune system to fight cancer is emerging as a potential treatment regimen.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

Cancer therapy remains a clinical challenge since generalised treatments such as radiotherapy and chemotherapy pose serious complications for normal organs. As a result, effective regimens are urgently required that specifically target cancer cells, thereby minimising undesirable side-effects.

The scientific objective of the EU-funded 'European consortium for anticancer antibody development' (EUCAAD) project was to identify novel cancer-related targets for raising therapeutic antibodies. The main focus was on tumour- and angiogenesis-associated antigens.

Targeting the vessel compartment of growing tumours has been recognised as a potential approach for inhibiting cancer. At the same time, the specificity of antibodies could be exploited to target antigens present on the surface of cancer cells or to bind and deplete growth factors required for tumour maintenance and growth.

EUCAAD partners combined these two approaches to generate a vaccine against the angiomotin (AMOT) protein, which is selectively expressed on endothelial cells of angiogenic tissues. When used in a pre-clinical mouse model, inhibition of neovascularisation and tumour growth was observed and attributed to natural killer cell-mediated cell cytotoxicity. Antibodies against other AMOT partners such as AMOTL1 and AMOTL2 were also proposed as potential avenues for therapeutic exploitation.

The consortium also worked on the development of various antibodies to induce chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) based on a molecule called ROR1. Targeting of ROR1, which is implicated in Wnt signalling, was shown to induce apoptosis of CLL cells.

Overall, the EUCAAD project successfully integrated basic science with translational research to identify angiogenic- and cancer-associated targets. The project deliverables have the potential to lead to the development of novel anti-cancer drugs and vaccines, hopefully with promising therapeutic outcomes.