Abstract 5093: Analysis of protein expression in head and neck cancers as therapeutic targets for antibody drug conjugates

Abstract Introduction: Antibody Drug Conjugates (ADCs) represent a new category of therapeutic molecular targeting for solid tumors. To date 6 ADCs have been approved in solid tumors against 5 targets (HER2/ERBB2, Folate alpha, Tissue Factor, Nectin-4, and Trop-2). Thus far, no ADCs have been approved for head and neck cancers. Methods: We queried protein expression data from a publically available consortium of datasets (TNMPlot. com) containing protein expression data from over 56, 000 tumor and normal samples from GEO, GTex, TCGA, and TARGET databases. Genes examined for protein targets, included those with ADC targets of both presently approved and investigational drugs from clinical trials. The level of overexpression was determined as the percent of tumors over the 75th percentile of expression in normal tissue. Results: Protein expression data were available for 99 HNSCC samples. Among targets with ADCs available, increased protein expression was seen in HNSCC for 0% of ERBB2 (n=0/99), 38% of FOLR1 (n=38/99), 0% of TACSTD2 (n=0/99), and 42% of F2 (n=42/99) genes. Among gene targets with investigational ADCs, increased protein expression was seen in HNSCC for 35% of of AXL (n=35/99), 13% of B7H3/CD27 (n=12/99), 50% of EGFR (n=50/99), 63% of VTCN1 (n=63/99), 10% of MSLN (n=10/99), 77% of CDH3 (n=76/99), and 39% of PDGFRA (n=39/99). Conclusion: Increased protein expression for approved ADC targets were infrequent in HNSCC. However, increased protein expression is seen for several ADCs under clinical investigation supporting the potential therapeutic approaches for investigational ADC targets. Citation Format: Justin Tyler Moyers, Seth L. Smith, Miranda M. Mora, Roberto Carmagnani Pestana. Analysis of protein expression in head and neck cancers as therapeutic targets for antibody drug conjugates abstract. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2024; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts) ; 2024 Apr 5-10; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84 (6Suppl): Abstract nr 5093.