Study offers hope for treating a potentially deadly childhood cancer

PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Researchers at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) announced significant findings in the treatment of neuroblastoma, a cancer of the peripheral nervous system that usually occurs as a solid tumor in a child's chest or abdomen. The study offers insights that could lead to new, personalized medicine approaches in immunotherapy treatment. The findings were published today in the journal Cancer Cell.

Neuroblastoma is the most common cancer in infants, accounting for a disproportionate share of pediatric cancer deaths. Currently, monoclonal antibody-based immunotherapy is the only Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved treatment for neuroblastoma. However, this type of immunotherapy can cause painful side effects, and patients often relapse. All these factors led researchers to seek new and innovative approaches to treating this disease and safely improve cure rates.

In this study, researchers used a multi-omics approach to analyze and identify potential new targets for immunotherapy, integrating proteomic, transcriptomic, and epigenomic data to pinpoint biologically relevant proteins on the surfaces of cancer cells that are visible to the immune system. Reviewing comprehensive data helps scientists understand how cells function and what goes wrong in diseases like cancer.

Based on their findings, the researchers prioritized the protein, Delta-like canonical notch ligand 1 (DLK1). They showed that high expression of DLK1 in cancer cells promotes tumor growth and discovered how neuroblastoma cells increase DLK1 levels. They also found that DLK1 is produced at a higher rate in many childhood and adult cancers.

"Our study demonstrates the power of an integrative multi-omics approach to identify immunotherapeutic targets," said senior author, Sharon J. Diskin, PhD, a member of the Center for Childhood Cancer Research and Department of Biomedical and Health Informatics at CHOP and an Associate Professor of Pediatrics in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

The researchers subsequently studied a novel treatment called ADCT-701, an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) that delivers a potent therapy targeting DLK1-expressing cancer cells, as part of the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) Pediatric Preclinical in Vivo Testing (PIVOT) Program. They demonstrated that ADCT-701 was highly effective in eradicating highly resistant patient-derived tumors. The NCI is currently conducting a phase 1 clinical trial for treatment of neuroendocrine neoplasms with ADCT-701 in adults 18 and older.

"Our findings provided important validation and preclinical data to support an ongoing first-in-human DLK1-directed immunotherapy clinical trial for adult patients diagnosed with neuroendocrine neoplasms, including neuroblastoma," said the study's primary author, Amber Hamilton, PhD, a post-doctoral fellow at CHOP. "This research brings hope to families, offering the potential for more effective treatments."

The research was supported by a grant from the W.W. Smith Charitable Trust, an Innovation Award from Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation, and a Stand Up 2 Cancer-St. Baldrick's Pediatric Dream Team Translational Research Grant (SU2C-AACR-DT1113). This work was also supported by National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants U54-CA232568, R01-CA204974, R01-CA237562, R03-CA230366, U01-CA199287, R35-CA220500, U01-CA263957, U01-CA199222, F31-CA225069 and T32-CA009140. The work was delivered in part by the NexTGen Cancer Grand Challenges partnership funded by Cancer Research UK (CGCATF-2021/100002), the National Cancer Institute (CA278687-01) and The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research.

Hamilton et al. "A proteogenomic sufaceome study identifies DLK1 as an immunotherapeutic target in neuroblastoma." Cancer Cell. Online October 24, 2024. DOI:10.1016/j.ccell.2024.10.003.

About Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: 

A non-profit, charitable organization, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was founded in 1855 as the nation's first pediatric hospital. Through its long-standing commitment to providing exceptional patient care, training new generations of pediatric healthcare professionals, and pioneering major research initiatives, the hospital has fostered many discoveries that have benefited children worldwide. Its pediatric research program is among the largest in the country. The institution has a well-established history of providing advanced pediatric care close to home through its CHOP Care Network, which includes more than 50 primary care practices, specialty care and surgical centers, urgent care centers, and community hospital alliances throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey, as well as the Middleman Family Pavilion and its dedicated pediatric emergency department in King of Prussia. In addition, its unique family-centered care and public service programs have brought Children's Hospital of Philadelphia recognition as a leading advocate for children and adolescents. For more information, visit https://www.chop.edu. 

Contact: Jennifer Lee
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
(267) 426-6084
leej41@chop.edu

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SOURCE Children's Hospital of Philadelphia