AMG 386, a peptibody antagonist SNS-032 mouse to angiopoietins 1 and 2, is being evaluated in Phase 3 clinical testing in combination with chemotherapy in women with ovarian cancer. AMG 819, a peptibody targeting nerve growth factor for pain has also progressed to clinical trials. These peptibodies illustrate the versatility of the modality.”
“Defects in the central upper lip are difficult to close because of the unique anatomy and limited reconstructive

options. Therefore, for every individual patient, reconstructive goals must be prioritized. Reconstructive priorities for an old patient with a large full-thickness oncologic defect are clearly different than those of a teenager with a residual deficiency after cleft repair. Authors aim to share their experience of 2 cases in which large selleck central upper lip oncologic defects have been reconstructed in a single stage using subcutaneous pedicled nasolabial island flap, which provides a single-stage

reconstruction by recruiting tissue from the cheek. It obsoletes the need for a lip adhesion. Lip adhesionYrelated feeding problems are eliminated, oral aperture circumference is maintained, and oral function is preserved. For the elderly male, a full beard is an advantage because it hides both the cheek and the lip scars.”
“Isolating high-affinity antibodies against native tumor antigens on the cell surface is not straightforward using standard hybridoma procedures. Here, we describe a combination method of synthetic peptide immunization and high-throughput flow cytometry screening to efficiently isolate hybridomas for cell binding. Using this method, we identified high-affinity monoclonal antibodies specific for the native form of glypcian-3 (GPC3), a target heterogeneously expressed in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and other cancers. We isolated a panel of monoclonal antibodies (YP6, YP7, YP8, YP9 and YP9.1) for cell surface binding. The antibodies

were used to characterize GPC3 protein expression in human liver cancer cell lines and tissues by flow cytometry, immunoblotting and immunohistochemistry. The best antibody (YP7) bound cell surface-associated GPC3 with equilibrium dissociation constant, K-D = 0.3 nmol/L and was highly PFTα specific for HCC, not normal tissues or other forms of primary liver cancers (such as cholangiocarcinoma). Interestingly, the new antibody was highly sensitive in that it detected GPC3 in low expression ovarian clear cell carcinoma and melanoma cells. The YP7 antibody exhibited significant HCC xenograft tumor growth inhibition in nude mice. These results describe an improved method for producing high-affinity monoclonal antibodies to cell surface tumor antigens and represent a general approach to isolate therapeutic antibodies against cancer. The new high-affinity antibodies described here have significant potential for GPC3-expressing cancer diagnostics and therapy.