Beta2-microglobulin: emerging as a promising cancer therapeutic target.

Beta2-microglobulin, a MHC class I subunit, is found to act similarly to a prototypical oncogenic factor capable of stimulating growth and progression of various cancers and plays a key regulatory role in stimulating cancer bone metastasis. Free beta2M in serum or urine has been regarded as an independent biomarker in several cancers. Specific antibodies to beta2M have remarkable tumoricidal activity for both solid tumors and blood malignancies and are shown to be selective to tumor cells, but caused no toxicity in normal cells. These surprising data strongly suggest that beta2M is a promising new therapeutic target for human cancers.