Therapeutic potential of hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor neutralizing antibodies: Inhibition of tumor growth in both autocrine and paracrine hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor:c-Met-driven models of leiomyosarcoma

Hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor (HGF/SF) and its receptor, c-Met, have been implicated in the growth and progression of a variety of solid human tumors. Thus, inhibiting HGF/SF:c-Met signaling may provide a novel therapeutic approach for treating human tumors. We have generated and characterized fully human monoclonal antibodies that bind to and neutralize human HGF/SF. In this study, we tested the effects of the investigational, human anti-human HGF/SF monoclonal antibody, AMG 102, and a mixture of mouse anti-human HGF/SF monoclonal antibodies (Amix) on HGF/SF-mediated cell migration, proliferation, and invasion in vitro. Both agents had high HGF/SF-neutralizing activity in these cell-based assays. The HGF/SF:c-Met pathway has been implicated in the growth of sarcomas; thus, we also investigated the effect of AMG 102 on the growth of human leiomyosarcoma (SK-LMS-1) in HGF/SF transgenic C3H severe combined immunodeficient mice engineered to express high levels of human HGF/SF, as well as tumor growth of an autocrine variant of the SK-LMS-1 cell line (SK-LMS-1TO) in nude mice. The results indicate that interrupting autocrine and/or paracrine HGF/SF:c-Met signaling with AMG 102 has profound antitumor effects. These findings suggest that blocking HGF/SF:c-Met signaling may provide a potent intervention strategy to treat patients with HGF/SF:c-Met-dependent tumors.