LIXTE Biotechnology Holdings, Inc. announced online publication of new pre-clinical data in the journal EMBO Reports, showing that its lead compound, LB-100, can turn immunologically " cold" tumors "hot," potentially enhancing the benefit of immunotherapy. In a paper titled, "The Phosphatase Inhibitor LB-100 Creates Neoantigens in Colon Cancer Cells through Perturbation of mRNA Splicing," LIXTE's collaborators from the Netherlands Cancer Institute have demonstrated that treatment of cancer cells with LB-100 disrupts the normal processing of the mRNA that encodes proteins, thereby generating neo-antigens that are presented to the host immune system. This new mechanism adds to several previous discoveries showing that LB-100 sensitizes cancer cells to immune checkpoint blockade.

The bioactivity of LB-100 shown in this new study turns the large group of immunologically cold microsatellite stable colon cancer cells into tumors that are recognized by the immune system. This development has the potential to significantly expand the number of colon cancer patients who respond to immunotherapy. In the currently published manuscript, the authors provide direct evidence that LB-100 generates neo-antigens that are presented in the context of MHC class I antigens to the immune system.