Study of MOC31-PE in Antigen Positive Carcinomas

Immunotoxins (ITs), monoclonal antibodies conjugated to plant or bacterial toxins, have been extensively investigated for their possible use as anti-tumor agents although not in carcinoma patients with minimal residual disease. Various ITs have been tested in early clinical trials and recent studies demonstrate anti-tumor activity of IT treatment in patients with glioblastoma and different solid tumors. Systemic treatment with immunotoxins directed against carefully selected epithelial cell surface molecules may have a potential for eradicating also dormant metastatic tumor cells, as their action is independent of cell proliferation. The effector moieties of the IT used here, the Pseudomonas exotoxin A (PE), inhibits protein synthesis in eukaryotic cells by catalytic inactivation (ribosylation) of elongation factor 2 in the ribosome complex.