Anti-tumor efficacy and pre-clinical immunogenicity of IFNα2a-NGR.

Previously studies have shown that tumor-homing peptide NGR enhances the therapeutic efficacy of human interferon α2a (IFNα2a) against tumors. Here we investigated in vivo anti-tumor effect of recombinant human IFNα2a-NGR (rhIFNα2a-NGR) against human lung adenocarcinoma cell line SPC-A-1, A549 and murine Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) subcutaneously xenografted tumors and further assessed the immunogenicity of rhIFNα2a-NGR in Sprague Dawley (SD) rats and rhesus monkeys. We found that rhIFNα2a-NGR significantly inhibited the growth of SPC-A-1, A549 and LLC cells-xenografted tumors in a dose-dependent manner. Although the antibodies to rhIFNα were detected in the serum of SD rats and rhesus monkeys treated with rhIFNα2a-NGR, these antibodies did not cause obvious pathological consequence. Taken together, these data demonstrate that rhIFNα2a-NGR has obvious anti-tumor efficacy in vivo, perhaps due to the tumor-homing peptide NGR. Thus rhIFNα2a-NGR represents a promising novel drug for effective treatment of cancer.