Radiation Induced Immune Response in Prostate Cancer

The proposed research will develop a new way to treat prostate cancer. We have discovered prostate cancer antigens that can be induced by radiation therapy. Because radiotherapy is a primary mode of treatment of both localized prostate cancer and metastatic prostate cancer. These antigens are expressed during therapy. We have developed antibodies to two of the lead radiation inducible antigens, TIP-1 and GRP-78. The proposed research will study how effective these antibodies are at activating an immune response against prostate cancer. The study also proposes to study these antibodies for planned future clinical trials. We will label the antibodies with radiotracers that can be imaged by PET scans. We will image mouse models of prostate cancer to study the cancer specific binding of the antibodies. The goal of this research is to submit the imaging data to the FDA for our future planned Investigational New Drug application. This research will develop a new paradigm in treatment of prostate cancer by use of therapeutic antibodies targeting inducible antigens in prostate cancer.