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news.A new study carried out by Micromet in collaboration with academic researchers has demonstrated that over-expression of the 'epithelial cell adhesion molecule,' or EpCAM, is associated with reduced overall survival in patients with ovarian cancer.
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The finding from the study suggests that two drugs in Micromet’s pipeline that target EpCAM may have utility in ovarian cancer. These drugs include the human antibody adecatumumab (MT201), which currently is in phase II trials for the treatment of breast and prostate cancer in collaboration with Serono.
The retrospective study, published in Gynecological Oncology, analyzed primary tumor samples from epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) patients at various stages and grades of the disease for the level and frequency of EpCAM expression.
Samples of 199 patients were analyzed, 91 of which were at advanced stages of the disease. The frequency of high-level EpCAM expression for all samples was close to 70%, and 83.5% for samples from patients with grade III tumors.
In the entire patient population, EpCAM over-expression was significantly associated with reduced overall survival. Median overall survival of patients with EpCAM over-expression was only half compared to that of patients whose tumors did not express EpCAM.
“This study strongly supports an active role of EpCAM in the development and progression of solid tumors,” comments Patrick Baeuerle, chief scientific officer of Micromet. “A negative correlation of EpCAM expression with patient survival has previously been reported for breast, bile duct and gall bladder cancers. Antibody-based cytotoxic therapies against EpCAM may therefore target a particularly aggressive tumor cell population with the potential to positively affect patient survival.”