CEACAM6 as a New Target in the Fight Against Cancer

Cancer research is rapidly evolving, and one of the newer targets is a molecule called Carcinoembryonic Antigen-Related Cell Adhesion Molecule 6 (CEACAM6). Scientists have discovered that this protein plays an important role in how some cancers grow, spread, and escape the body’s immune system. Understanding CEACAM6 is helping researchers explore new ways to select patients for targeted treatments and improve outcomes.

What is CEACAM6?

CEACAM6 is a protein found on the surface of cells. In healthy tissues, its levels are usually low. But in many cancers, CEACAM6 levels rise sharply[1]. This increase is linked to faster tumor growth, a greater ability to spread, and resistance to some treatments.

How is CEACAM6 Measured?

There are several ways to measure CEACAM6 levels:

Tissue Testing (IHC)
A small sample of the tumor is tested in the lab using special antibodies to identify how much CEACAM6 is present[2].

Blood Tests (ELISA)
CEACAM6 can also be measured in blood. Higher blood levels have been linked to shorter survival in pancreatic cancer patients[3].

Molecular Tests
Tests like PCR and can measure CEACAM6 at the gene and protein levels, offering precise insights[2].

These tests help identify patients whose cancers rely heavily on CEACAM6, making them potential candidates for novel therapies.

Why CEACAM6 Matters in Cancer

CEACAM6 plays several roles that make cancer harder to treat:

1. It helps cancer cells grow faster by turning on growth pathways inside the cell.

2. It allows cells to detach and survive in the bloodstream, which helps them spread to other parts of the body.

3. It encourages tumor cells to invade surrounding tissues and form new blood vessels, supporting tumor growth.

4. It helps cancer cells hide from the immune system by blocking T cells, which are the body’s immune soldiers.

Unlike some other immune escape mechanisms, CEACAM6 works independently of PD-1 and PD-L1 pathways. This means it could be a useful target in patients whose cancers do not respond to current immunotherapies.

Cancers Where CEACAM6 Is High

Higher levels of CEACAM6 are found in several cancers:

Pancreatic Cancer
More than 90 percent of pancreatic adenocarcinomas show CEACAM6 overexpression, even in early stages.

Lung Cancer
About 80 percent of lung adenocarcinomas have high CEACAM6 levels, especially in patients with EGFR mutations. This is linked to treatment resistance.

Colorectal Cancer
CEACAM6 rises as the disease progresses and is often found at high levels in liver metastases.

Gastric Cancer
Over half of gastric cancer cases have high CEACAM6 levels, which are linked to larger tumors and advanced disease stages.

Breast and Other Cancers
Around half of breast cancers show increased CEACAM6, especially hormone receptor positive types. It is also seen in cholangiocarcinoma, osteosarcoma, and oral cancers, often indicating worse outcomes.

Why Measuring CEACAM6 Helps

High CEACAM6 levels are linked to poorer survival, faster disease progression, and resistance to some treatments. For example, pancreatic cancer patients with lower CEACAM6 expression tend to live longer after surgery. Identifying these levels helps oncologists and investigators predict how aggressive the disease may be and who might benefit from new targeted therapies[2].

Who Might Benefit From CEACAM6-Targeted Therapies?

Patients with cancers that strongly express CEACAM6 may be ideal candidates for clinical trials or targeted drugs. This includes people with advanced pancreatic, lung, gastric, or colorectal cancers. It may be especially relevant for those who have not responded to existing immunotherapies or chemotherapy.

Current Treatment Approaches Targeting CEACAM6

Several strategies are being tested to block CEACAM6:

Antibody-Drug Conjugates (ADCs)
These are smart drugs that attach a powerful anti-cancer compound to an antibody that recognizes CEACAM6. One such drug, 84-EBET, has shown strong effects in early studies across several cancers[4].

Monoclonal Antibodies
Lab-made antibodies can block CEACAM6 from interacting with immune cells. One such antibody, 8F5, slowed tumor growth by 40% in lung cancer models, and even more when combined with chemotherapy[3].

Some earlier drugs were stopped due to side effects, but newer versions are being designed to be safer and more effective.

Looking Ahead

Researchers are now working to standardize CEACAM6 testing, so patients can be selected more accurately for targeted therapy. They are also exploring ways to combine CEACAM6-targeting drugs with other treatments, like immunotherapy or chemotherapy, to boost results.

The Bottom Line

CEACAM6 is emerging as an important marker and treatment target in several solid tumors. Testing for CEACAM6 can help identify patients with more aggressive disease and those who may benefit from future therapies. While many of these treatments are still in early stages, they offer new hope for patients whose cancers are difficult to treat with existing options.

References:

1. Chiang WF, Cheng TM, Chang CC, Pan SH, Changou CA, Chang TH, Lee KH, Wu SY, Chen YF, Chuang KH, Shieh DB, Chen YL, Tu CC, Tsui WL, Wu MH. Carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecule 6 (CEACAM6) promotes EGF receptor signaling of oral squamous cell carcinoma metastasis via the complex N-glycosylation. Oncogene. 2018 Jan 4;37(1):116-127. doi: 10.1038/onc.2017.303. Epub 2017 Sep 11. PMID: 28892050.

2. Kurlinkus B, Ger M, Kaupinis A, Jasiunas E, Valius M, Sileikis A. CEACAM6’s Role as a Chemoresistance and Prognostic Biomarker for Pancreatic Cancer: A Comparison of CEACAM6’s Diagnostic and Prognostic Capabilities with Those of CA19-9 and CEA. Life (Basel). 2021 Jun 9;11(6):542. doi: 10.3390/life11060542. PMID: 34207784; PMCID: PMC8226832.

3. Zhao D, Cai F, Liu X, Li T, Zhao E, Wang X, Zheng Z. CEACAM6 expression and function in tumor biology: a comprehensive review. Discov Oncol. 2024 May 25;15(1):186. doi: 10.1007/s12672-024-01053-6. PMID: 38796667; PMCID: PMC11127906.

4. Kogai H, Tsukamoto S, Koga M, Miyano M, Akagi T, Yamaguchi A, Mori K, Gotoh K, Nakazawa Y. Broad-Spectrum Efficacy of CEACAM6-Targeted Antibody-Drug Conjugate with BET Protein Degrader in Colorectal, Lung, and Breast Cancer Mouse Models. Mol Cancer Ther. 2025 Mar 4;24(3):392-405. doi: 10.1158/1535-7163.MCT-24-0444. PMID: 39812376; PMCID: PMC11876960.

Jacek Antas

Chief Executive Officer

Jacek Antas is a shareholder of the Company, has spent more than 25 years in the financial services industry holding various positions in sales and consulting.

Mr. Antas obtained a master’s degree from the Warsaw School of Economics and has served as a board member of various
companies throughout his career.

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Mr. Murphy is a certified public accountant with over thirty years of experience in finance and operations management. He is currently a consultant with Danforth Advisors LLC (“Danforth”), a leading provider of outsourced strategic and operational specialists across functions in the life sciences industry. While at Danforth, Mr. Murphy has served over fifteen private and publicly held life sciences companies as CFO and CFO Advisor, helping them secure over USD 0.5 billion in financing and successfully execute pivotal asset transactions. Mr. Murphy functions as a consultant to Helix pursuant to a consulting agreement between the Company and Danforth.

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Thomas Mehrling

Medical Adviser

Thomas Mehrling (PhD in Pharmacology and MD) has over 20 years’ experience in multinational Pharma companies developing novel oncology compounds from preclinical research through to registration. Prior to entering the industry, he spent 13 years as an MD at the University Hospital in Frankfurt, working on preclinical and translational projects. He served as Director of European Oncology at Mundipharma International (2003–2013), building the company’s first European oncology business from the ground up out of Cambridge, UK, and completing the clinical development, registration and launch of two major products in Europe, DepoCyte® and Levact® (Ribomustin® and Treanda®). In 2013, he led the establishment of the Mundipharma Group’s start-up, Mundipharma EDO, developing anti-cancer therapeutics for solid tumours out of Basel, Switzerland.

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Kim Gaspar

Director Quality Assurance

Kim is the Director of Quality Assurance at Helix BioPharma Corp. An experienced quality assurance professional with expertise in Canadian, US, and EU regulations, she has been involved in all aspects of Phase I/II biopharmaceutical product development over the years, including regulatory submissions, QC laboratory compliance, tech transfer and third-party oversight of CMC activities, clinical QA, and bioanalytical data analysis. Kim joined Helix in 2000, transitioning into QA in 2003. She holds a B.Sc in Biochemistry and a Ph.D in Veterinary Physiological Sciences, both from the University of Saskatchewan.

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Brenda Lee

Director Clinical Operations

Brenda is the Clinical Operations Director at Helix Biopharma Corp. A clinical research operations professional with 25 years of experience managing clinical trials, ranging from early Phase I to late Phase IIIb/IV studies, she brings experience in clinical study protocol writing and development, trial start-up and vendor management, and a proven track record in planning and managing clinical trials to quality standards, timelines and budget. Brenda joined Helix Biopharma Corp. in 2018, working to advance the clinical program of L-DOS47. She holds B.Sc and M.Sc. degrees from the University of Toronto, specializing in Nutritional Sciences and Human Biology.

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Jerzy Leszczynski

Director

Jerzy Leszczynski is a shareholder of the Company, has spent more than 35 years developing businesses and has served in the capacity of board member of various real estate development companies. Mr. Leszczynski obtained his Master of Science in Chemistry from the Warsaw Institute of Technology.

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Janusz Grabski

Director, Chair of Audit Committee

Janusz (John) Grabski is a lawyer specialized in corporate and real estate law with over twenty years of experience.

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Malgorzata Laube

Director

Malgorzata Laube has over 19 years of experience in nuclear medicine. In her last role with Alberta Health Services, she was the Department Supervisor, Nuclear Medicine at Royal Alexandra Hospital. Ms. Laube obtained a MSc degree in Environmental Engineering from the Warsaw University of Technology and is based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

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Jacek Antas

Chairman of the Board

Jacek Antas is a shareholder of the Company, has spent more than 25 years in the financial services industry holding various positions in sales and consulting.

Mr. Antas obtained a master’s degree from the Warsaw School of Economics and has served as a board member of various
companies throughout his career.

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Jonathan Davis

Advisor, ADC Discovery

Jonathan Davis received his Ph.D. from University of California, San Francisco, where he studied protein structure and function using NMR. After a post-doc at Harvard Medical School exploring RNA selection and structure in the labs of Jack Szostak and Gerhard Wagner, he went to work at EMD Serono, where his work involved improving antibody-based therapeutics, inventing a platform technology for generating heterodimeric Fcs as a basis for multifunctional molecules, and developing a novel scaffold based on an artificially-designed protein from David Baker’s lab. In 2008 he took a job at Bristol-Myers Squibb in Waltham/Cambridge MA, working on antibody discovery and platform development in a wide range of therapeutic areas, with a particular focus on multispecific therapeutics. He moved to Madison, WI in 2019 to take on the role of VP of Innovation and Strategy at Invenra, a biotech focused on bispecific antibodies, and where he is currently head of the Scientific Advisory Board. In early 2024 he left the corporate world to found Creative Antibodies, a consulting firm that helps guide companies to successful antibody discovery and development projects, from mAbs to multispecifics, ADCs, and other formats. Outside of science, Jonathan is a conservatory trained cellist, plays numerous other instruments, and founded the UCSF Orchestra (now Symphony Parnassus) in San Francisco, where he was Music Director for six years.

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Davide Guggi

Advisor, CMC

Davide graduated as a pharmacist and received his PhD in Pharmaceutical Technology and Biotechnology from the University of Vienna. He has over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, principally in the field of oncology. At the beginning of his career, Davide led oncology business units and commercial departments at Mundipharma and Gilead across Austria and Eastern Europe. Since over 10 years he has been working as a CMC expert, covering operational and regulatory CMC functions on behalf of over 20 different small- and medium-sized biotech companies across the world. He has served as CMC Director and CSO/CTO for several years, developing both small molecules and biologics (mABs, Fab, ADCs and Radio-immuno-conjugates) from early discovery to NDA/BLA in the US, EU and Canada, with a focus on First-in-Human and Phase I/II studies in oncology indications.

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