B7-H3 as a Marker and Target for Cancer Diagnosis, Prognostication, Tumor Vasculature and Therapy

Reference #:

2006-290

Inventors/Contributors

Eugene D. Kwon M.D., Christine M. Lohse, Susan M. Kuntz, Timothy J. Roth M.D., Yuri Sheinin M.D., Ph.D.

Description

B7-H3 is expressed by kidney and prostate cancer and in these cancers is predictive of cancer progression and poor patient survival. B7-H3 also appears in nearly all blood vessels of kidney cancer, but not normal tissues or slower growing prostate cancer. Thus, B7-H3 appears to represent a directly targetable molecule to treat cancer-specific blood vessels that are rapidly being produced by aggressive cancer. B7-H3 is abundantly present on the outside of cancer cells of tumors involving the kidney and prostate (and blood vessel lining (endothelium) of certain fast growing tumor blood vessels) thereby making it an ideal marker for, diagnosis and prognosis, as well as a suitable target for developing new imaging methods to assess cancer spread. Moreover, B7-H3 appears to represent an ideal target for cancer therapy, especially therapies that are intended to attack newly generated blood vessels within aggressively growing cancers.

Patent Status

Pending