Engaging the lysosomal compartment to combat B cell malignancies

J Clin Invest. 2009 Aug;119(8):2133-6. doi: 10.1172/JCI40259. Epub 2009 Jul 20.

Abstract

The combination of rituximab, a type I anti-CD20 mAb, with conventional chemotherapy has significantly improved the outcome of patients with B cell malignancies. Regardless of this success, many patients still relapse with therapy-resistant disease, highlighting the need for the development of mAbs with higher capacity to induce programmed cell death. The so-called type II anti-CD20 mAbs (e.g., tositumomab) that trigger caspase-independent B cell lymphoma cell death in vitro and show superior efficacy as compared with rituximab in eradicating target cells in mouse models are emerging as the next generation of therapeutic anti-CD20 mAbs. In this issue of the JCI, Ivanov and colleagues identify the lysosomal compartment as a target for type II mAbs (see the related article beginning on page 2143). These data encourage the further clinical development of type II mAbs as well as other lysosome-targeting drugs in the treatment of B cell malignancies.

Publication types

  • Comment
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Antibodies, Monoclonal / pharmacology
  • Antibodies, Monoclonal / therapeutic use*
  • Antibodies, Monoclonal, Murine-Derived
  • Antigens, CD20 / physiology*
  • Antineoplastic Agents / therapeutic use*
  • Apoptosis / drug effects
  • HLA-DR Antigens / physiology*
  • Humans
  • Lymphoma, B-Cell / drug therapy*
  • Lymphoma, B-Cell / pathology
  • Lysosomes / drug effects*
  • Lysosomes / physiology
  • Rituximab

Substances

  • Antibodies, Monoclonal
  • Antibodies, Monoclonal, Murine-Derived
  • Antigens, CD20
  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • HLA-DR Antigens
  • Rituximab