Specific targets for cancer treatment are highly desirable, but still remain to be discovered. While previous reports suggested that CAPRIN-1 localizes in the cytoplasm, here we now show that part of this molecule is strongly expressed on the cell membrane surface in most solid cancers, but not normal tissues. Notably, the membrane expression of CAPRIN-1 extended to the subset of highly tumorigenic cancer stem cells and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-induced metastatic cancer cells. In addition, we revealed that cancer cells with particularly high CAPRIN-1 surface expression exhibited enhanced tumorigenicity. We generated a therapeutic humanized anti-CAPRIN-1 antibody (TRK-950), which strongly and specifically binds to various cancer cells and shows antitumor effects via engagement of immune cells. TRK-950 was further developed as a new cancer drug and a series of preclinical studies demonstrates its therapeutic potency in tumor-bearing mouse models and safety in a relevant cynomolgus monkey model. Together, our data demonstrate that CAPRIN-1 is a novel and universal target for cancer therapies. A phase I clinical study of TRK-950 has been completed (NCT02990481) and a phase Ib study (combination with approved drugs) is currently underway (NCT03872947) in the United States and France. In parallel, a phase I study in Japan is in progress as well (NCT05423262).
Significance: Antibody-based cancer therapies have been demonstrated to be effective, but are only approved for a limited number of targets, because the majority of these markers is shared with healthy tissue, which may result in adverse effects. Here, we have successfully identified CAPRIN-1 as a novel truly cancer-specific target, universally expressed on membranes of various cancer cells including cancer stem cells. Clinical studies are underway for the anti-CAPRIN-1 therapeutic antibody TRK-950.
© 2023 The Authors; Published by the American Association for Cancer Research.