Prostate stem cell antigen as therapy target: tissue expression and in vivo efficacy of an immunoconjugate

We conducted an expression analysis of prostate stem cell antigen (PSCA)in normal urogenital tissues, benign prostatic hyperplasia (n = 21), prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (n = 33), and primary (n = 137) and metastatic (n = 42) prostate adenocarcinoma, using isotopic in situ hybridization on tissue microarrays. In normal prostate, we observe PSCA expression in the terminally differentiated, secretory epithelium; strong expression was also seen in normal urothelium. Forty-eight percent of primary and 64% of metastatic prostatic adenocarcinomas expressed PSCA RNA. Our studies did not confirm a positive correlation between level of PSCA RNA expression and high Gleason grade. We characterized monoclonal anti-PSCA antibodies that recognize PSCA expressed on the surface of live cells, are efficiently internalized after antigen recognition, and kill tumor cells in vitro in an antigen-specific fashion upon conjugation with maytansinoid. Unconjugated anti-PSCA antibodies demonstrated efficacy against PSCA-positive tumors by delaying progressive tumor growth in vivo. Maytansinoid-conjugated antibodies caused complete regression of established tumors in a large proportion of animals. Our results strongly suggest that maytansinoid-conjugated anti-PSCA monoclonal antibodies should be evaluated as a therapeutic modality for patients with advanced prostate cancer.