Although
esophageal cancer has a poor prognosis after recurrence, some patients have shown long-term survival despite recurrence. We hypothesized that induction of either antitumor Abs or antitumor-specific CTLs could play a role in long-term survival (5 years or longer) in patients with recurrence and/or distant
metastases. Therefore, we aimed to obtain Abs that specifically bind to
cancer cells by using serum samples from patients with a good prognosis. A phage library was prepared using PBMC
mRNA of the patients, and cell panning was carried out using an
esophageal cancer cell line. Results showed the presence of an
epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) Ab, KT112, that specifically bound to the
cancer cell line. Notably, KT112 bound to only EGFR-positive
cancer cells but failed to bind to normal esophageal cells. Furthermore, KT112 was characterized by responses to EGFR expressed on
cancer cells but not to the recombinant extracellular domain of EGFR. Immunohistochemical analysis showed that KT112 reacted with 17.4% of
esophageal squamous cell carcinoma tissue but not with any other
cancer or normal tissue, suggesting that the Ab recognizes
cancer-specific forms of EGFR and might have contributed to
tumor suppression in patients with
esophageal cancer. Furthermore, because of its high
cancer specificity, KT112 could be a promising therapeutic option (e.g., in Ab-drug conjugates) for
esophageal cancer.