Kaohsiung Medical University / Prof. Li-Tzong Chen

 Pain Points Solved 

• Pancreatic cancer shows poor responses to existing therapies, resulting in low survival rates and poor prognosis.
• Conventional targeted therapies mainly focus on tumor cells themselves and lack effective targeting of key regulatory molecules in the tumor immune microenvironment.
• This technology targets conserved functional epitopes of CXCR2 to develop a highly specific anti-CXCR2 antibody, effectively inhibiting CXCR2 downstream signaling and tumor cell proliferation.

 Technology Introduction 

This invention presents a new strategy for generating anti-CXCR2 antibodies targeting conserved epitopes of CXCR2. Through antigen immunization and hybridoma fusion, an anti-CXCR2 antibody was selected, and its light and heavy chain sequences were obtained to develop a humanized antibody. In vitro experiments showed the antibody specifically binds to CXCR2 on pancreatic cancer cells, inhibiting downstream signaling and cell proliferation. The antibody's therapeutic effect was also verified in animal models.
Advantages include offering a novel approach for pancreatic cancer treatment, as it targets CXCR2, a molecule crucial for regulating the immune microenvironment. Given the low survival rates and poor responses to current therapies in pancreatic cancer, this anti-CXCR2 antibody combined with immunotherapy could present a potential synergistic treatment. Our results confirmed that the combination of anti-CXCR2 antibody with anti-PD-L1 suppressed pancreatic tumor growth more effectively.

Figure 1. Anti-CXCR2 antibody induces apoptosis in pancreatic cancer cells and promotes immune cell infiltration.

Figure 2. Combination of anti-CXCR2 antibody with immunotherapy more effectively suppresses pancreatic tumor growth.

 Application Examples 

• In vitro studies demonstrated that the anti-CXCR2 antibody specifically binds to CXCR2 on pancreatic cancer cells and significantly reduces cell proliferation.
  
• Animal model studies confirmed that treatment with the antibody effectively suppresses pancreatic tumor growth.
• When combined with immunotherapy, such as anti-PD-L1 antibodies, the treatment exhibits synergistic anti-tumor effects, demonstrating strong potential for clinical application.

 Related Links 

None

 Patent Name and Number 

TW I825687
US 18/549,165
EP 22794850.2

 Industry-Academia / Tech Transfer Partner 

None

 Honors and Awards  

21st National Innovation Award-Academia & Research Innovation Award

 Technical Contact  

Mr. Hung, Assistant Manager

Kaohsiung Medical University 
Tel: +886 7-3121101 ext. 2360
Email: R121084@kmu.edu.tw