Detection and treatment of cancers of the lung

Abstract

The present invention relates to compositions and methods for cancer therapies and diagnostics, including but not limited to, cancer markers. In particular, the present invention provides tumor antigens associated with specific cancers and diagnostic assays for the detection of such antigens and associated autoantibodies as indicative of the presence of specific cancers. The present invention further provides cancer immunotherapy utilizing the tumor antigens of the present invention.

Description

[0001] This application claims priority to provisional patent application serial number 60 / 323,505, filed Sep. 19, 2001. This invention was made with government support under Grant No. CA84982 awarded by the National Institutes of Health. The Government may have certain rights in the invention.FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention relates to compositions and methods for cancer therapies and diagnostics, including but not limited to, cancer markers. In particular, the present invention provides tumor antigens associated with specific cancers and diagnostic assays for the detection of such antigens and associated autoantibodies as indicative of the presence of lung cancers. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] The term cancer collectively refers to more than 100 different diseases that affect nearly every part of the body. Throughout life, healthy cells in the body divide, grow, and replace themselves in a controlled fashion. Cancer starts when the genes directing this cel...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0007] There is increasing evidence for an immune response to cancer in humans, demonstrated by the identification of autoantibodies to tumor antigens (Stocket et al., J. Exp. Med., 187:1349 [1998]; Boon and Old, Curr. Opin. Immunol. 9:681 [1997]; Soussl, Cancer Res. 60:1777 [2000]; Old and Chen, J. Exp. Med. 187:1163 [1998]). The identification of panels of tumor antigens that elicit a humoral response has utility in cancer screening, diagnosis, and in establishing a prognosis. Such antigens also have utility in immunotherapy against cancers. Several approaches are currently available for the identification of tumor antigens. The present invention provides a proteomic-based approach for the identification of tumor antigens that induce an antibody response. In contrast to other approaches based on the analysis of recombinant proteins, a proteomic approach allows identification of autoantibodies to proteins that are directly derived from cancer cells or tumors and thus may uncover antigenicity associated with post-translational modification.

[0018] The terms “specific binding” or “specifically binding” when used in reference to the interaction of an antibody and a protein or peptide means that the interaction is dependent upon the presence of a particular structure (i.e., the antigenic determinant or epitope) on the protein; in other words the antibody is recognizing and binding to a specific protein structure rather than to proteins in general. For example, if an antibody is specific for epitope “A,” the presence of a protein containing epitope A (or free, unlabelled A) in a reaction containing labeled “A” and the antibody will reduce the amount of labeled A bound to the antibody.

Problems solved by technology

But cancerous, or malignant, tumors continue to grow, crowding out healthy cells, interfering with body functions, and drawing nutrients away from body tissues.

However, many biopsies are invasive, unpleasant procedures with their own associated risks, such as pain, bleeding, infection, and tissue or organ damage.

In addition, if a biopsy does not result in an accurate or large enough sample, a false negative or misdiagnosis can result, often requiring that the biopsy be repeated.