Abstract #0974

Therapeutic Targeting of NG2 Proteoglycan with MAb & Pre-Armed NK Cells in Human GBM Evaluated with Dynamic Enhanced & Diffusion Weighted MRI in Rats

Marte Thuen¹, Jien Wang², Per yvind Enger², Aurelie Poli^3,4, Guro Lkka², Else Marie Huuse¹, Frits Thorsen², Cecilie Brekke Rygh², Martha Chekenya²

¹Dep of Circulation & Medical Imaging, Norwegian University of Science & Technology, Trondheim, Norway; ²Department of Biomedicine, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway; ³Translational Cancer Research, University of Bergen, Norway; ⁴Lab for Immunology & Allergology, CRP sante, Luxembourg, Luxembourg

Glioblastoma multiform (GBM) is a highly aggressive brain tumor. In this study we target NG2-receptor (a marker for aggressive development) with monoclonal antibodies (mAb) and natural killer cells (NK). Rats were implanted with GBM cells and treated with mAb, NK and NK+mAb. MRI (DCE-MRI) and diffusion weighted MRI was performed 7 and 17 days after treatment. Overall survival and histological analysis illustrated that the combined treatment with NK+mAb had greatest therapeutic effect. Volume of extra-vascular cellular space was significantly reduced in rats treated with NK compared to control, due to the present of NK-cells in addition to tumor cells. The NK+mAb combined treatment was not different from controls, indicating a reduction of tumor cells due to the effect of the treatment.