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Methods of treating cancer using il-21Related Patent Categories: Drug, Bio-affecting And Body Treating Compositions, Lymphokine, InterleukinMethods of treating cancer using il-21 description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20070048267, Methods of treating cancer using il-21. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This patent application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/456,780, filed on Jun. 6, 2003, and is a continuation-in-part which claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/387,127, filed on Jun. 7, 2002, and all of which are incorporated by reference herein. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] Cytokines generally stimulate proliferation or differentiation of cells of the hematopoietic lineage or participate in the immune and inflammatory response mechanisms of the body. Examples of cytokines which affect hematopoiesis are erythropoietin (EPO), which stimulates the development of red blood cells; thrombopoietin (TPO), which stimulates development of cells of the megakaryocyte lineage; and granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF), which stimulates development of neutrophils. These cytokines are useful in restoring normal blood cell levels in patients suffering from anemia, thrombocytopenia, and neutropenia or receiving chemotherapy for cancer. [0003] The interleukins are a family of cytokines that mediate immunological responses. Central to an immune response is the T cell, which produce many cytokines and adaptive immunity to antigens. Cytokines produced by the T cell have been classified as type 1 and type 2 (Kelso, A. Immun. Cell Biol. 76:300-317, 1998). Type 1 cytokines include IL-2, IFN-.gamma., LT-.alpha., and are involved in inflammatory responses, viral immunity, intracellular parasite immunity and allograft rejection. Type 2 cytokines include IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-10 and IL-13, and are involved in humoral responses, helminth immunity and allergic response. Shared cytokines between Type 1 and 2 include IL-3, GM-CSF and TNF-.alpha.. There is some evidence to suggest that Type 1 and Type 2 producing T cell populations preferentially migrate into different types of inflamed tissue. [0004] Mature T cells can activated, i.e., by an antigen or other stimulus, to produce, for example, cytokines, biochemical signaling molecules, or receptors that further influence the fate of the T cell population. [0005] B cells can be activated via receptors on their cell surface including B cell receptor and other accessory molecules to perform accessory cell functions, such as production of cytokines. [0006] Natural killer (NK) cells have a common progenitor cell with T cells and B cells, and play a role in immune surveillance. NK cells, which comprise up to 15% of blood lymphocytes, do not express antigen receptors, and therefore do not use MHC recognition as requirement for binding to a target cell. NK cells are involved in the recognition and killing of certain tumor cells and virally infected cells. In vivo, NK cells are believed to require activation, however, in vitro, NK cells have been shown to kill some types of tumor cells without activation. [0007] Lymphomas are malignancies of the lymphatic system, that are heterogenous in etiology, morphology, and clinical course. Lymphomas are generally classified as either Hodgkins disease or Non-Hodgkins lymphomas. Hodgkins disease is characterized by giant histocytes, whereas absence of the cells encompasses all non-Hodgkins lymphomas. Lymphocytes, which are the primary component of lymph, can be B cell lymphocytes or T cell lymphocytes. Generally, when a lymphoma arises early in cell maturation, the malignancy is more aggressive than malignancies arising from mature cells. Chemotherapy is usually more effective in treating aggressive lymphoma, whereas indolent lymphomas cannot be treated as easily and therefore are likely never to be cured as long as the disease remains indolent. For a survey of information relating to lymphoma, see, e.g. Lymphoma Treatments and Managing Their Side Effects, Lymphoma Res. Found. Of Amer., Los Angeles, 2001. [0008] In other aspects, the present invention provides such methods for treating solid tumors and lymphomas by administrating IL-21 compositions that may used as a monotherapy or in combination with chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or other biologics. These and other uses should be apparent to those skilled in the art from the teachings herein. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0009] Within one aspect, the present invention provides a method of treating Non-Hodgskins lymphoma comprising administering to a subject in need thereof a therapeutically effective amount of a polypeptide having a functional activity of IL-21. In certain embodiments, the polypeptide has been shown to not cause proliferation of isolated cancer cells prior to administration to the subject. [0010] In another aspect, the present invention provides a method of treating cancer comprising administering to subject a therapeutically effective amount of a polypeptide having a functional activity of IL-21, wherein the cancer is selected from the group of renal cell carcinoma, epithelial carcinoma, breast cancer, prostate cancer, ovarian cancer and colon cancer. In one embodiment, there is a tumor response. In another embodiment, the tumor response is measured as complete response, partial response or reduction in time to progression. [0011] In another aspect, the present invention provides a method of treating Non-Hodgskins lymphoma comprising administering to a subject in need thereof a therapeutically effective amount of a fusion protein comprising a first polypeptide having a functional activity of IL-21 and a second polypeptide. In other embodiments, the methods provide the cancer is selected from the group of renal cell carcinoma, epithelial carcinoma, breast cancer, prostate cancer, ovarian cancer and colon cancer. In one embodiment, there is a tumor response. In another embodiment, the tumor response is measured as complete response, partial response or reduction in time to progression. DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [0012] Prior to setting forth the invention in detail, it may be helpful to the understanding thereof to define the following terms: [0013] The term "affinity tag" is used herein to denote a polypeptide segment that can be attached to a second polypeptide to provide for purification or detection of the second polypeptide or provide sites for attachment of the second polypeptide to a substrate. In principal, any peptide or protein for which an antibody or other specific binding agent is available can be used as an affinity tag. Affinity tags include a poly-histidine tract, protein A (Nilsson et al., EMBO J. 4:1075, 1985; Nilsson et al., Methods Enzymol. 198:3, 1991), glutathione S transferase (Smith and Johnson, Gene 67:31, 1988), Glu-Glu affinity tag (Grussenmeyer et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 82:7952-4, 1985), substance P, Flag.TM. peptide (Hopp et al., Biotechnology 6:1204-10, 1988), streptavidin binding peptide, or other antigenic epitope or binding domain. See, in general, Ford et al., Protein Expression and Purification 2: 95-107, 1991. DNAs encoding affinity tags are available from commercial suppliers (e.g., Pharmacia Biotech, Piscataway, N.J.). [0014] The term "allelic variant" is used herein to denote any of two or more alternative forms of a gene occupying the same chromosomal locus. Allelic variation arises naturally through mutation, and may result in phenotypic polymorphism within populations. Gene mutations can be silent (no change in the encoded polypeptide) or may encode polypeptides having altered amino acid sequence. The term allelic variant is also used herein to denote a protein encoded by an allelic variant of a gene. [0015] The terms "amino-terminal" and "carboxyl-terminal" are used herein to denote positions within polypeptides. Where the context allows, these terms are used with reference to a particular sequence or portion of a polypeptide to denote proximity or relative position. For example, a certain sequence positioned carboxyl-terminal to a reference sequence within a polypeptide is located proximal to the carboxyl terminus of the reference sequence, but is not necessarily at the carboxyl terminus of the complete polypeptide. [0016] The term "cancer" or "cancer cell" is used herein to denote a tissue or cell found in a neoplasm which possesses characteristics which differentiate it from normal tissue or tissue cells. Among such characteristics include but are not limited to: degree of anaplasia, irregularity in shape, indistinctness of cell outline, nuclear size, changes in structure of nucleus or cytoplasm, other phenotypic changes, presence of cellular proteins indicative of a cancerous or pre-cancerous state, increased number of mitoses, and ability to metastasize. Words pertaining to "cancer" include carcinoma, sarcoma, tumor, epithelioma, leukemia, lymphoma, polyp, and scirrus, transformation, neoplasm, and the like. [0017] The term "complement/anti-complement pair" denotes non-identical moieties that form a non-covalently associated, stable pair under appropriate conditions. For instance, biotin and avidin (or streptavidin) are prototypical members of a complement/anti-complement pair. Other exemplary complement/anti-complement pairs include receptor/ligand pairs, antibody/antigen (or hapten or epitope) pairs, sense/antisense polynucleotide pairs, and the like. Where subsequent dissociation of the complement/anti-complement pair is desirable, the complement/anti-complement pair preferably has a binding affinity of <10.sup.9 M.sup.-1. [0018] The term "complements of a polynucleotide molecule" denotes a polynucleotide molecule having a complementary base sequence and reverse orientation as compared to a reference sequence. [0019] The term "degenerate nucleotide sequence" denotes a sequence of nucleotides that includes one or more degenerate codons (as compared to a reference polynucleotide molecule that encodes a polypeptide). Degenerate codons contain different triplets of nucleotides, but encode the same amino acid residue (i.e., GAU and GAC triplets each encode Asp). [0020] The term "expression vector" is used to denote a DNA molecule, linear or circular, that comprises a segment encoding a polypeptide of interest operably linked to additional segments that provide for its transcription. Such additional segments include promoter and terminator sequences, and may also include one or more origins of replication, one or more selectable markers, an enhancer, a polyadenylation signal, etc. Expression vectors are generally derived from plasmid or viral DNA, or may contain elements of both. Continue reading about Methods of treating cancer using il-21... Full patent description for Methods of treating cancer using il-21 Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Methods of treating cancer using il-21 patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. 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