Combination therapy for treating disease

Abstract

Disclosed are methods for treating cancer comprising administering a xenotypic antibody and a chemotherapeutic drug to a patient suffering from cancer. Also disclosed is a method for inducing a host immune response in a patient against a multi-epitopic in vivo tumor antigen present in the host serum, which antigen does not elicit an effective host immune response, comprising administering to the patient a chemotherapeutic drug and a composition comprising a binding agent that specifically binds to a first epitope on the antigen and allowing the binding agent to form a binding agent/antigen pair, wherein an effective host immune response is elicited against a second epitope on the antigen.

1 . A method for treating cancer, comprising concurrently administering a xenotypic monoclonal antibody and a chemotherapeutic drug to a patient suffering from cancer. 
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the xenotypic monoclonal antibody is murine. 
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the antibody is selected from Alt-1, Alt-2, Alt-3, Alt-4, Alt-5, and Alt-6. 
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the patient is a human. 
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the chemotherapeutic is administered within a week before the monoclonal antibody. 
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the chemotherapeutic is administered within a week after the monoclonal antibody. 
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the antibody is administered in a dose of less than or equal to 2 mg. 
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising surgical removal of the cancer. 
   
   
       9 . A method for treating cancer, comprising surgical removal of the cancer and concurrent administration of a chemotherapeutic drug and a xenotypic monoclonal antibody in a dose equal to or less than 2 mg. 
   
   
       10 . (canceled) 
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein administration of the antibody comprises a 20 minute intravenous infusion. 
   
   
       12 - 13 . (canceled) 
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the chemotherapeutic drug is administered within seven days prior to or following the administration of the monoclonal antibody, and wherein the chemotherapeutic drug is administered every four weeks for six cycles. 
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 14 , further comprising the step of administering the xenotypic monoclonal antibody every twelve weeks for up to two years. 
   
   
       16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the xenotypic monoclonal antibody and chemotherapeutic drug are administered at weeks 1, 4, and 8, followed by further administration of the chemotherapeutic drug alone at weeks 12 and 16, followed by concurrent administration of the chemotherapeutic drug and xenotypic monoclonal antibody at week 20. 
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the concurrent administration of the xenotypic monoclonal antibody and the chemotherapeutic drug occurs at week 1, followed by administration of the chemotherapeutic drug at week 4, wherein the concurrent administration is repeated for six cycles and followed by administration of the xenotypic monoclonal antibody every twelve weeks for up to two years. 
   
   
       18 . A method for treating cancer in a patient, comprising surgical removal of the cancer and administration of a xenotypic monoclonal antibody at weeks 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 followed by concurrent administration of a chemotherapeutic drug and a xenotypic monoclonal antibody in a dose less than or equal to 2 mg at week 12. 
   
   
       19 - 21 . (canceled) 
   
   
       22 . A method for inducing a host immune response in a patient against a multi-epitopic in vivo tumor antigen, which antigen does not elicit an effective host immune response, comprising concurrently administering to the patient a chemotherapeutic drug and a composition comprising a binding agent that specifically binds to a first epitope on the antigen and allowing the binding agent to form a binding agent/antigen pair, wherein a host immune response is elicited against a second epitope on the antigen. 
   
   
       23 - 29 . (canceled) 
   
   
       30 . A method for treating cancer, comprising concurrent administration of a chemotherapeutic drug, a binding agent, and an antigen. 
   
   
       31 - 36 . (canceled) 
   
   
       37 . A method for inducing a host immune response in a patient against a multi-epitopic in vivo tumor antigen, which antigen does not elicit an effective host immune response, comprising concurrently administering to the patient a chemotherapeutic drug and a composition comprising a binding agent present in an amount of from 0.1 μg to 2 mg per kg of body weight of the host, and wherein the binding agent specifically binds to an epitope on the antigen and an effective host immune response is elicited against a second epitope on the antigen. 
   
   
       38 . A method for treating cancer, comprising administering a xenotypic antibody and a chemotherapeutic drug to a patient suffering from cancer.