ANTAGONIST ANTIBODY FOR THE TREATMENT OF CANCER

摘要

Antibodies, humanized antibodies, resurfaced antibodies, antibody fragmen ts, derivatized antibodies, and conjugates of same with cytotoxic agents, wh ich specifically bind to, and inhibit A class of Eph receptors, antagonize t he effects of growth factors on the growth and survival of tumor cells, and which have minimal agonistic activity or are preferentially devoid of agonis t activity. Said antibodies and fragments thereof may be used in the treatme nt of tumors that express elevated levels of A class of Eph receptors, such as breast cancer, colon cancer, lung cancer, ovarian carcinoma, synovial sar coma and pancreatic cancer, and said derivatized antibodies may be used in t he diagnosis and imaging of tumors that express elevated levels of A class o f Eph receptors. Also provided are cytotoxic conjugates comprising a cell bi nding agent and a cytotoxic agent, therapeutic compositions comprising the c onjugate, methods for using the conjugates in the inhibition of cell growth and the treatment of disease, and a kit comprising the cytotoxic conjugate a re disclosed are all embodiments of the invention. In particular, the cell b inding agent is a monoclonal antibody, and epitope-binding fragments thereof , that recognizes and binds the A class of Eph receptors.