Treatment of non-small cell lung cancer with a CCL14 monoclonal antibody

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Lung cancer is the most prevalent cancer worldwide and responsible for the most cancer deaths in the United States. Existing therapies include surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy to kill the tumor cells, but these options are not adequate for the vast majority of patients. Thus, there is a significant need to develop new therapeutic approaches. One of the most promising areas of development is immunotherapy, which reprograms the immune system to recognize and eliminatethe tumor. We identified a protein that is expressed on lung cancer cells that may allow a tumor to evade the immune system by regulating the recruitment of host immune cells. Our goal is to develop a neutralizing antibody that will inhibit the activity ofthis protein and reactivate the anti- tumor immune response, resulting in tumor regression. We have produced monoclonal antibodies against this target. This first aim of this proposal is to characterize the antibodies in molecular and cellular assays