In mice trials, a monoclonal antibody named JAA-F11 has been shown to extend the survival of mice with human breast-cancer tumors and to inhibit the cancer's spread to the lungs by more than 50 percent.

JAA-F11, targets a particular disaccharide, an antigen known as TF-Ag, which aids the adhesion and spread of certain cancer cells. While the antibody did not kill the cancer cells, it blocked stages of cancer-cell growth that allow the cells to adhere to organ tissue, the research showed.

Mice with breast-cancer tumors that received the antibody had a median survival time of 72 days, compared to 57 days for the animals that did not receive JAA-F11, the study found. In addition, exposing cultures of tumor cells to the antibody inhibited cell growth by a statistically significant 16 percent.

According to the authors of the study published in the November issue of the journal Neoplasia, JAA-F11 could also increase the efficacy of existing cancer drugs and may be used as a vehicle for drug delivery, since JAA-F11 bind to the tumor cell surface.

[Source: University of Buffalo, Photo: MedLibrary.org]