Preclinical Efficacy of an Antibody-Drug Conjugate Targeting Mesothelin Correlates with Quantitative 89Zr-ImmunoPET

Molecular Cancer Therapeutics 2016 October 19 [Epub ahead of print] [Link]

Terwisscha van Scheltinga AG, Ogasawara A, Pacheco G, Vanderbilt A, Tinianow J, Gupta N2, Li D, Firestein R, Marik J, Scales SJ, Williams SP

Abstract

Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) use monoclonal antibodies (mAb) as vehicles to deliver potent cytotoxic drugs selectively to tumor cells expressing the target. Molecular imaging with zirconium-89 (89Zr) labeled mAbs recapitulates similar targeting biology and might help predict the efficacy of these ADCs. An anti-mesothelin antibody (AMA, MMOT0530A) was used to make comparisons between its efficacy as an ADC and its tumor uptake as measured by 89Zr immunoPET imaging. Mesothelin-targeted tumor growth inhibition by monomethyl auristatin E (MMAE), ADC AMA-MMAE (DMOT4039A), was measured in mice bearing xenografts of ovarian cancer OVCAR-3 X2.1, pancreatic cancers Capan-2, HPAC, AsPC-1, and HPAF-II, or mesothelioma MSTO-211H. Ex vivo analysis of mesothelin expression was performed using immunohistochemistry. AMA-MMAE showed the greatest growth inhibition in OVCAR-3X2.1, Capan-2 and HPAC tumors, which showed target-specific tumor uptake of 89Zr-AMA. The less responsive xenografts (AsPC-1, HPAF-II and MSTO-211H) did not show 89Zr-AMA uptake despite confirmed mesothelin expression. ImmunoPET can demonstrate the necessary delivery, binding and internalization of an ADC antibody in vivo and this correlates with the efficacy of mesothelin-targeted ADC in tumors vulnerable to the cytotoxic drug delivered.