Technology Overview

By analyzing data from patients with a variety of cancers, Dr. Jay Sarthy’s group at Fred Hutch Cancer Center have identified short H2A histone variants as endogenous oncohistones and novel cancer testis antigens. The identified variants in short H2A (sH2A) histone have the ability to bind to common HLA alleles, thus acting as excellent targets for immunotherapy. By comparing sH2A variants with canonical sequences, the inventors have identified sH2A variants that are frequently associated with cancers, and are prominent in diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Development of transgenic T-cell receptors specific for these epitopes can be utilized for CAR T cell therapy to control tumor growth. Potential for T cell immunotherapies utilizing these novel epitopes can be used not only in treating Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma but could be utilized as treatment for multiple other cancers.

Applications

• Novel targets to treat a variety of malignancies, especially DLBCL
• Can be used in a wide variety of malignancies including uterine corpus endometrial carcinomas, bladder urothelial carcinomas and cervical squamous cell carcinomas and endocervical carcinomas
• sH2A derived peptides that bind human HLA might be an attractive target for cancer vaccination

Advantages

• sH2A variants are upregulated in tumor samples, but not in adjacent healthy tissue
• Epitopes have a high probability of binding common HLA alleles, making these promising candidates for T cell immunotherapies and vaccines.

Patent Information

Patent Pending: US20220133760A1

Investigator Overview

• Jay Sarthy, MD, PhD - Physician, Basic Science Division