新的单克隆抗体：有望预防放射性肺纤维化

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Monoclonal Antibody May Prevent Radiation-Induced Fibrosis
November 9, 2007 (Los Angeles) — Researchers say that the integrin-transforming growth-factor beta axis is involved in the development of fibrosis and that by blocking integrin beta 6, pulmonary toxicity can be prevented and possibly even reversed. The promising preliminary results testing the new monoclonal antibody being developed by Biogen Idec were presented at plenary here at the 49th annual meeting of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO).
\"The results are very striking,\" session comoderator Stephen Hahn, MD, from the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia, said after the presentation. \"Could there be a protective effect that we are not assessing,\" he asked. Presenter Simon Cheng, MD, PhD, from the New York University Medical Center, answered that this could be a possibility.
Asked by Medscape Oncology to comment on the work, Ramesh Rengan, MD, PhD, from the University of Pennsylvania, said that \"this is a very interesting study and the data are provocative.\" He noted that the findings suggest the monoclonal antibody does not have to be present at the time of radiation and has the potential to reverse fibrosis.

\"This is a study of mice, not humans, so it will require additional research,\" he emphasized, \"but there are a number of groups actively investigating radiation-induced pulmonary toxicities. It is a huge obstacle to providing patients with adequate doses.\"

An estimated 30% to 50% of lung cancer patients will require radiation therapy, and many of those will be affected by radiation-induced lung injuries, such as pneumonitis and fibrosis. \"The lung is an exquisitely radiosensitive organ, and it is a vital organ,\" Dr. Rengan said. \"The challenge has been in identifying effective means of ameliorating or bypassing lung injury to deliver adequate radiation doses to lung cancers.\"