Staining Of Muc1 In Ovarian Cancer Tissues With Pankomab-Gex (Tm) Detecting The Tumour-Associated Epitope, Ta-Muc1, As Compared To Antibodies Hmfg-1 And 115d8

PankoMab-GEX (TM) is a novel humanized and glycooptimized antibody, which recognizes a novel specific tumour epitope of MUC1 (TA-MUC1). The aim of this study was to evaluate PankoMab-GEX (TM) binding to a variety of ovarian cancer specimens (n=156) and to normal ovarian tissue. In addition, PankoMab-GEX (TM) staining was compared to that of the well-known anti-MUC1 antibodies HMFG-1 and 115D8. PankoMab-GEX (TM) showed positive reactivity in serous (100% of cases, mean IRS 8.23), endometrioid (95% of cases, mean IRS 6.40), mucinous (58% of cases, mean IRS 4.17), and clear cell (92% of cases, mean IRS 7.58) carcinomas. In contrast to HMFG-1, healthy ovarian tissue was not recognized by PankoMab-GEX (TM). Staining with antibody 115D8 was increased with staging. Cytoplasmic PankoMab-GEX (TM) staining increased with tumour grade, but no correlation was found with staging. Univariate Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed a tendency of reduced survival of patients with high expression of TA-MUC1. The findings are encouraging with respect to a potential use of PankoMab-GEX (TM) as a new therapeutic antibody for the treatment of ovarian cancer patients.