Chemoimmunoconjugate development for ovarian carcinoma therapy: preclinical studies with vinca alkaloid-monoclonal antibody constructs.

Preclinical efficacy studies are presented in a human ovarian carcinoma model utilizing several novel conjugation strategies with the KS1/4 monoclonal antibody and derivatives of the vinca alkaloid desacetylvinblastine hydrazide. The chemoimmunoconjugates KS1/4-beta-alanine-methylenemalonic acid ethyl ester-4-decacetylvinblastine 23-hydrazide (KS1/4-BAMME-DAVLB-HY), KS1/4-beta-alanine-5-formylpyrrole-2-carboxylic acid-4-desacetylvinblastine 23-hydrazide (KS1/4-BAP-DAVLB-HY), and KS1/4-4-desacetylvinblastine 23-hydrazide were explored in the OVCAR-3 human ovarian carcinoma xenograft model. These conjugates, constructed with variable linker stability between the vinca alkaloid and the antibody, were studied by comparing the route of administration and the treatment schedule. Under these conditions a mean survival time from 28 to 35 days in untreated control animals was observed. Significant increases in survival (i.e. 3-9-fold over untreated control animals) were observed with all the immunoconjugates tested but with varying potency and efficacy dependent on linker strategy. Parallel therapy with equivalent doses of free DAVLB-HY or a non-antigen-binding immunoconjugate did not significantly increase the survival of the animals. These results suggest several chemoimmunoconjugate strategies for site-directed therapy of human ovarian cancer.