New Antibody Demonstrates 2-Pronged Approach in Treating Blood Cancer

A study published by BloodAdvances, a Journal of the American Society of Hematology, demonstrated the potential of the 2-pronged approach in treating non-Hodgkin lymphoma, multiple myeloma, and acute myeloid leukemia.

New research from the study suggested that blood cancer may be effectively treated with a 2-pronged approach. This new approach involves directly attacking cancer cells in addition to redirecting them from bone marrow into the peripheral blood streams. When cancer cells are in the blood stream, there are more treatment options as the cells are more vulnerable to treatments like chemotherapy.

Flavia Pernasetti, PhD, of Pfizer Oncology Research and Development worked with her team to develop an antibody, PF-06747143, that has demonstrated the ability to preclinically attack and kill the cells while moving the cells away from their protective environment in bone marrow.

“One of the major limitations we see in treating blood cancers is the failure to clear cancer cells from the bone marrow,” Pernasetti said in a statement. “Because the bone marrow allows the cancer cells to flourish, removing these cells is an essential step in treating these malignancies effectively. Not only does our approach have the potential to get these cells out of the marrow, making them more susceptible to standards of care, it is designed to also directly attacks the cancer cells."

While testing the efficacy of the antibody, researchers used it alone and along with standard chemotherapy. In both cases, the antibody treatment destroyed more cells than the typical blood cancer treatments. More specifically, when treating acute myeloid leukemia, utilization of the antibody alone resulted in a 95.9% decrease in cancer cells. When the antibody was combined with the standard chemotherapy agents, daunorubicin and cytarabine, 99.7% of cancer cells were killed.

“Our preliminary preclinical results are encouraging, and we are very excited to see how our antibody fares in clinical testing," said Pernasetti.