Antitumor efficacy and reduced toxicity using an anti-CD137 Probody therapeutic
Etxeberria I., Bolaños E., Teijeira A., Garasa S., Yanguas A., Azpilikueta A., Kavanaugh WM., Vasiljeva O., Belvin M., Howng B., Irving B., Tipton K., West J., Mei L., Korman AJ., Sega E., Olivera I., Cirella A., Ochoa MC., Rodriguez ME., Melero A., Sanmamed MF., Engelhardt JJ., Melero I.
Significance CD137 (4-1BB) is a target for tumor immunotherapy, which has been pursued in clinical trials with agonist antibodies or the natural ligand (CD137L). Liver toxicity is a serious dose-limiting problem that may be circumvented by selective functional or physical targeting to the tumor microenvironment. A CD137 agonist antibody prodrug that is preferentially activated by tumor-associated proteases constitutes an appealing way to enhance safety while preserving efficacy.