Thomas Kieber-Emmons University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, USA
Integrating additive or synergistic antitumor effects that focus on distinct elements of tumor biology are the most rational of strategies for cancer treatment. The real challenge is to define what elements of tumor biology make the most sense to be targeted? Signal transduction (pathways) can define therapeutic strategies and approaches that might be tailored to harness benefit from sustained immunity much like that observed from natural antibodies involved in immune surveillance mechanisms. Tumor associated carbohydrate antigens (TACAs) are pan-targets on tumor cells because they play roles in initiation and metastases of cancer, and considered as common targets shared by many tumor types, and regulating a network of signaling pathways associated with cell survival. Strategies that target TACAs therefore have potential benefit as cell death therapies. We have been developing an active immunization strategy targeting TACAs using carbohydrate mimetic peptides (CMP) designed as panimmunogens