Dr. O'Connor on Targeting CD30 in DLBCL

Owen A. O'Connor, MD, PhD, professor of Medicine and Experiment Therapies, co-program director, Lymphoid Development and Malignancy Program, Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at Columbia University Medical Center, discusses targeting CD30 in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL).

Research is ongoing in regards to cell surface proteins, many of which are expressed on both normal and malignant cells. Rituximab is an agent aimed at targeting these proteins, such as CD30, O’Connor says. For example, CD20 is universally found on malignant B cells and normal B cell lymphocytes. Rituximab, he says, has become a mainstay for patients with various forms of B-cell lymphomas.

Agents such as rituximab have paved the way for researchers to develop monoclonal antibodies against these cell surface proteins, as well as use technology to develop monoclonal antibody conjugates.