Dr. Hong on the Mechanism of Action of Tisotumab vedotin in Cervical Cancer

David S. Hong, MD, deputy director of the Department of investigational Cancer Therapeutics, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the mechanism of action of tisotumab vedotin (HuMax-TF-ADC) in patients with cervical cancer.

Tisotumab vedotin is an antibody-drug conjugate; it is a fully humanized monoclonal antibody that binds to tissue factor, which is linked to a cytotoxic or antimitotic agent called monomethyl auristatin E. The mechanism of action of the agent is most likely multifactorial, says Hong. There is a direct antimitotic cytotoxic mechanism of action. However, the bystander effect and immunogenic cell death are thought to be involved as well as a result of antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity or antibody-dependent cellular phagocytosis, explains Hong.

The agent is currently under investigation in the multicohort phase II innovaTV 201 study, in which patients with previously treated recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer, bladder cancer, head and neck cancer, and non—small cell lung cancer, are receiving the drug at a recommended phase II dose of 2 mg/kg every 3 weeks.