Potent antitumor activity of an auristatin-conjugated, fully human monoclonal antibody to prostate-specific membrane antigen

Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) is the prototypic cell-surface marker of prostate cancer and provides an attractive target for monoclonal antibody (mAb) targeted therapies. In this study, a novel antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) was generated by linking a fully human PSMA mAb to monomethylauristatin E (MMAE), a potent inhibitor of tubulin polymerization. The PSMA ADC was evaluated for antitumor activity in vitro and in a mouse xenograft model of androgen-independent human prostate cancer. The PSMA ADC eliminated PSMA-expressing cells with picomolar potency and >700-fold selectivity in culture. When used to treat mice with established human C4-2 tumors, the PSMA ADC significantly improved median survival 9-fold relative to vehicle or isotype-matched ADC (P = 0.0018) without toxicity. Treatment effects were also manifest as significant (P = 0.0068) reduction in serum levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA). Importantly, 40% of treated animals had no detectable tumor or measurable PSA at day 500 and could be considered cured. The findings support development of PSMA antibody-auristatin conjugates for therapy of prostate cancer.