Improved Precision of
Antibody Drug Conjugates
The right patients.
The right treatment.
Our team is focused on predicting patient response to Antibody Drug Conjugates (ADCs) ensuring that the right patients receive the right treatments. This will improve both trial and patient outcomes.
The RAB5 Project is a part of SPARK Norway, the University of Oslo’s innovation program for health and life sciences, and is based at Institute for Cancer Research, Oslo University Hospital.
Problem
Antibody Drug Conjugates are one of the fastest growing anticancer therapeutics and, while they are highly targeted and potent they do not work in all patients. Without a way to better select the right patients, we will continue to face subgroups of non-responders. Also, clinical trial outcomes may be improved by refinement of inclusion criteria.
Solution
Our work is aimed at identifying the intracellular proteins that help define whether a cancer cell will respond to a specific ADC. These biomarkers can be evaluated prior to treatment initiation, thereby improving the ability to target the therapeutic to the patient, the patient selection process within a clinical study and the overall patient response.
How does it work?
The RAB5 Biomarker
RAB5 is a protein involved in endocytosis and intracellular trafficking. Our data indicate that Rab5 regulates the cellular uptake of ADCs. Thus, by quantifying the expression level of RAB5, it is possible to predict whether an ADC will exert its activity and kill the cancer cell. Hence, greater RAB5, greater chance of ADC success.
The Evidence
In 2021, we published some of our first findings in Nature Communications. Data from two multicenter clinical trials was evaluated to confirm the correlation of RAB5A expression to treatment efficacy. You can read the publication below:
”RAB5A expression is a predictive biomarker for trastuzumab emtansine in breast cancer”
Who Can Benefit?
RAB5 expression has been evaluated for patients with breast cancer treated with the trastuzumab emtansine.
Ongoing work is focused on identifying additional biomarkers and confirming findings in other drug-disease combinations.
The Team
-
Anette Weyergang
PROJECT LEADER
PhD, Pharmacy -
Olav Engebråten
TEAM MEMBER
Senior Oncologist -
Kristian Berg
TEAM MEMBER
Professor, Biochemistry -
Chelsea Ranger
SPARK PROJECT
COORDINATER
Supported by
Jonas Einarsson
Øyvind Kongstun Arnesen
Our Collaborators
What We Need
Our team is open to meetings with potential collaborators across academia and industry. If you are interested to speak with us, please reach out at: