Experimental Antibody Shows Promise in Treating Lung Cancer

Researchers hope to turn the body's natural cancer-fighting abilities into a new drug

Jan. 28, 2026 at 2:39pm

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Researchers have discovered an antibody called GT103 that seems to play a role in helping some lung cancer patients with early-stage disease have better prognoses. The antibody appears to block a molecular shield that cancer cells use to protect themselves from the immune system. While early trials of an experimental drug based on GT103 have shown some promising results, including one patient's tumor completely disappearing, the researchers caution that much larger studies are needed to prove the drug's efficacy.

Why it matters

The idea of harnessing the body's natural cancer-fighting abilities to develop new treatments is an intriguing one that could lead to more effective and less toxic therapies. If the experimental GT103 drug proves successful in larger trials, it could represent a new approach to treating lung cancer, one of the deadliest forms of the disease.

The details

Researcher Edward Patz, formerly of Duke University, has been studying for decades why some lung cancers remain harmless and indolent while others are aggressive and deadly. He found that the presence of the GT103 antibody in patients' blood seemed to be a sign that their immune system was actively fighting the cancer. This led Patz to develop an experimental drug based on GT103 that blocks the molecular shield cancer cells use to evade the immune system. Early trials of the drug in 31 lung cancer patients whose standard treatments had failed showed the tumors stopped growing, at least temporarily, in about a third of the patients. Researchers then combined the GT103 antibody with the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab, hoping the two would work together to more effectively fight the cancer, but the results were mixed. However, one patient's tumor completely disappeared and has not returned for two years.

  • Patz has been researching this concept for decades, starting when he was a cancer researcher at Duke University.
  • The first stage of drug testing in lung cancer patients, looking only at safety, was recently conducted.

The players

Edward Patz

A former cancer researcher at Duke University who has spent much of his career studying why some cancers remain harmless. He is now the founder of a company, Grid Therapeutics, that is developing an experimental drug based on the GT103 antibody.

Hirva Mamdani

A researcher at Wayne State University in Detroit who conducted the initial safety trial of the experimental GT103 drug in 31 lung cancer patients.

George Simon

An oncologist at OhioHealth who also participated in the initial safety trial of the GT103 drug.

Roy Herbst

A lung cancer expert and chief of medical oncology at Yale University who is intrigued by the concept behind the GT103 drug.

David Barbie

The chief of thoracic oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute who cautioned that more research is needed to prove the GT103 drug's efficacy.

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What they’re saying

“It's still very very early, but I like it.”

— Roy Herbst, Lung cancer expert and chief of medical oncology at Yale University (The New York Times)

“What we find and measure on imaging are not all cancer cells.”

— Edward Patz (The New York Times)

“He is no longer on any treatment, and his tumor has completely disappeared. For two years now, scans have not found any evidence of disease.”

— Hirva Mamdani, Researcher at Wayne State University (The New York Times)

What’s next

Researchers say much larger studies with control groups are now needed to further test the efficacy of the experimental GT103 drug and determine if it can become a viable new treatment for lung cancer.

The takeaway

The discovery of the GT103 antibody and its potential to harness the body's natural cancer-fighting abilities represents an intriguing new approach to cancer drug development. While early results are promising, significant further research is required to prove the GT103 drug's effectiveness and bring it to market as a new treatment option for lung cancer patients.