Cancer therapeutic antibodies come of age: targeting minimal residual disease.
Ten years after the first clinical application of Rituximab, an anti-CD20 recombinant monoclonal antibody, immunotherapy has become common practice in oncology wards. Thanks to the great diversity of the immune system and the powerful methodology of genetic engineering, the pharmacologic potential of antibody-based therapy is far from exhaustion. The recent application of Trastuzumab, an antibody to a receptor tyrosine kinase, in adjuvant breast cancer therapy marks the beginning of a new phase in cancer treatment. Here we discuss molecular mechanisms of antibody-based therapy, the emerging ability to target minimal disease and the therapeutic potential of combining antibodies with other modalities.
Ben-Kasus
Tsipi
T
Department of Immunology, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel.
Schechter
Bilha
B
Sela
Michael
M
Yarden
Yosef
Y
D000818:Animals; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000627:therapeutic use* / Q000652:urine*; D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; D058846:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Murine-Derived; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018365:Neoplasm, Residual / Q000188:drug therapy*; D000069283:Rituximab; D000068878:Trastuzumab
D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; D058846:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Murine-Derived; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D000069283:Rituximab; D000068878:Trastuzumab