Keystone symposia: antibody-based therapeutics for cancer

This important conference focused on the latest developments in therapeutic antibodies, particularly for their design, production and formulation for cancer therapy. Engineered antibodies currently represent over 30% of biopharmaceuticals in clinical trials, highlighted by the recent FDA approvals of Zevalin (ibritumomab tiuxetan, IDEC Pharmaceuticals) for cancer radioimmunotherapy and Humira (adalimumab, Abbott Laboratories) for rheumatoid arthritis [1,2]. An impressive array of international speakers was assembled in Banff by the organisers L Weiner (Fox Chase Cancer Center, USA) and P Carter (Amgen and Seattle Genetics). The meeting highlighted emerging new technologies, both for the discovery of novel cancer biomarkers and for innovative immunotherapeutic designs. The latest successes were also presented for antibodies directed to the conventional cancer targets, including CD20, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), erbB-family proteins and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Importantly, recent structural details emerged that will direct future designs of these cancer-targeting molecules, ranging from antibody-dependent cellular-cytotoxicity (ADCC) and complement-dependent cytotoxicity (CDC) enhancement to improved cytotoxic payloads using radionuclides, toxins, enzymes, drugs and viral delivery. The conference also highlighted the latest in vitro antibody libraries for the selection of high-affinity reagents against refractory cancer targets, and included the design of small domain modules for highly-efficient in vivo targeting to large, high avidity complexes for enhanced cytotoxicity. The major challenges in this rapidly growing area include the need to initiate and sustain innate and adaptive immune responses for the generation of efficient, long-term tumour therapy. This conference was sponsored by Amgen and accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME).