TLR3 as a biomarker for the therapeutic efficacy of double-stranded RNA in breast cancer

Bruno Salaun, Laurence Zitvogel, Carine Asselin-Paturel, Yannis Morel, Karine Chemin, Clarisse Dubois, Catherine Massacrier, Rosa Conforti, Marie Pierre Chenard, Jean Christophe Sabourin, Aicha Goubar, Serge Lebecque, Michel Pierres, Donata Rimoldi, Pedro Romero, Fabrice Andre

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    96 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    The discovery of a targeted therapeutic compound along with its companion predictive biomarker is a major goal of clinical development for a personalized anticancer therapy to date. Here we present evidence of the predictive value of TLR3 expression by tumor cells for the efficacy of Poly (A:U) dsRNA in 194 breast cancer patients enrolled in a randomized clinical trial. Adjuvant treatment with double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) was associated with a significant decrease in the risk of metastatic relapse in TLR3 positive but not in TLR3-negative breast cancers. Moreover, we show the functional relevance of TLR3 expression by human tumor cells for the antitumor effects mediated by dsRNA in several preclinical mouse models carried out in immunocompromised animals. These 2 independent lines of evidence relied upon the generation of a novel tool, an anti-TLR3 antibody (40F9.6) validated for routine detection of TLR3 expression on paraffin-embedded tissues. Altogether, these data suggest that dsRNA mediates its therapeutic effect through TLR3 expressed on tumor cells, and could therefore represent an effective targeted treatment in patients with TLR3-positive cancers.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)1607-1614
    Number of pages8
    JournalCancer Research
    Volume71
    Issue number5
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1 Mar 2011

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