NKG2D-Targeted Therapy for Ovarian Cancer
Therapeutic for ovarian cancer that targets NKG2D ligands and prevents binding and stimulating the NKG2D receptor.
- Stage: Preclinical in vivo; Preclinical in vitro
- Type: Therapeutic
- Categories: Protein / Peptide; Target
Technology Overview
Normally expressed by immune cells, subsets of human cancer cells co-opt expression of the NKG2D receptor to exploit the presence of its ligands on cancer cells for oncogenic/tumorigenic stimulation. One such cancer subtype is ovarian cancer (OC). Dr. Thomas Spies has demonstrated the ability to interfere with cancer growth by interfering with NKG2D ligand binding, while Dr. Roland Strong and Dr. Martin Prlic have developed a NKG2D heptamer that targets and binds all known human NKG2D ligands and prevents them from binding and stimulating the NKG2D receptor. The NKG2D heptamer significantly reduces NKG2D+ cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. OC is currently treated with toxic chemotherapy drugs (e.g., carboplatin and paclitaxel), which lose efficacy due to drug resistance.
Applications
- Therapeutic for cancer subtypes
- Ovarian cancer
Advantages
- Alternative to toxic chemotherapy with higher efficacy
- Pan-NKG2D ligand masking through multiple ligand binding positions allows for lower dose with single therapeutic, in contrast with antibody-based therapeutics
Patent Information
- Method: US 20140377266
- Heptamer: US 2018/0371051 A1
Market Overview
- The market for ovarian was valued at USD $2 billion in 2021, and is predicted to grow upto USD 11.8 billion by 2029.
Investigator Overview
- Roland Strong, PhD, Basic Sciences Division
- Veronika Groh-Spies, MD, Clinical Research Division
- Thomas Spies, PhD, Clinical Research Division