Abstract 2508: EMP2 is a targetable biomarker in GBM tumors resistant to anti-angiogenic therapies
Authors: Aguirre Brian , Mekonnen Mahlet , Mehta Riddhi , Suresh Meera , Chandla Anubhav , Han Karam , Yang Isaac , Wadehra Madhuri 
Published: March 2024

Background: Glioblastoma (GBM) is characterized as the most aggressive and lethal primary brain tumor. One of the hallmarks of GBM tumor growth and progression lies within the proangiogenic tumor microenvironment. Current anti-angiogenic drugs such as the anti-VEGF antibody take effect by inducing tumor cell starvation, leading to a functional normalization of the tumor vasculature. However, the survival benefits of anti-angiogenic drugs have been very limited. To this end, we hypothesized that the tetraspan Epithelial Membrane Protein-2 (EMP2) may help mediate resistance.

Objective: We hypothesize that Epithelial Membrane Protein-2 may serve as a targetable biomarker for anti-VEGF resistance. We further explored the effectiveness of combination therapy in SB28 and GL261 GBM mouse models using anti-VEGF drug, Aflibercept, with a novel anti-EMP2 monoclonal antibody (mAb).

Results: Tumor tissue was collected prospectively from patients undergoing surgery for suspected glioblastoma and stained for EMP2 and HIF2a using standard immunohistochemistry. Patients had banked tumor tissue both prior to and after bevacizumab treatment with 3 months of clinical and radiologic follow-up available. Bevacizumab treatment increased EMP2 protein expression. This increase in EMP2 correlated with reduced mean survival time post-bevacizumab therapy. Similarly, HIF-2a showed increased expression post-bevacizumab treatment and showed expression in both tumor and stromal cells. Limited animal models exist for anti-VEGF therapy for GBM. To establish syngeneic models, 10 week-old mice were subcutaneously implanted with murine SB28 or GL261 GBM cells. Treatment with either polyclonal sera to VEGF or Aflibercept failed to reduce tumor load or provide a therapeutic benefit. To next investigate if this model could recapitulate the response obtained patients tumors, formalin fixed paraffin embedded tissue was analyzed for both EMP2 and HIF-2a expression. Both markers were significantly upregulated in Aflibercept treated samples compared to the control.To next investigate if combination treatment could produce a significant reduction in tumor load, animals were treated with a combination treatment with Aflibercept and anti-EMP2 mAb. The combination therapy significantly reduced tumor volume and weight in comparison to control-treated tumors. Combination treatment in SB28 tumors resulted in a two fold reduction in tumor load and 50% reduction in tumor weight. Moreover, tumors showed reduced Ki67 expression. Similarly, treated GL261 tumors produced a 2.3 fold reduction in tumor size and ~2.7 fold reduction in tumor weight. Our results suggest that EMP2 can be a promising new target therapeutic target that can be combined with anti-VEGF treatment to potentially increase overall survival in GBM patients.

Citation Format: Brian Aguirre, Mahlet Mekonnen, Riddhi Mehta, Meera Suresh, Anubhav Chandla, Karam Han, Isaac Yang, Madhuri Wadehra. EMP2 is a targetable biomarker in GBM tumors resistant to anti-angiogenic therapies [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(6_Suppl):Abstract nr 2508.