title: Bispecific antibodies for cancer therapy.
abstract: Bispecific antibodies, in contrast to conventional monoclonal antibodies, can bind simultaneously two different antigens. Taking advantage of this virtue, they are mostly designed for immune effector cell redirection to tumors and for radionuclide pretargeting to tumors. Bispecific antibodies of the first generation were produced by chemical cross-linking or cell-fusion technologies. More recently, the application of genetic engineering technologies gave rise to numerous formats of bispecific antibody fragments and whole IgG molecules. Because bispecific antibodies enable therapeutic strategies that are not possible with conventional monoclonal antibodies, they attract strong interest. Several bispecific antibody formats have already shown clinical efficacy in cancer patients, catalyzing efforts to translate the imaginative bispecific antibody concepts into effective therapies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Microbiology, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel. hollandn@post.tau.ac.il
authors.forename: Nurit
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hollander
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018033:Antibodies, Bispecific / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm / Q000276:immunology; D002616:Chemical Engineering; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D016207:Cytokines / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D015202:Protein Engineering; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D018033:Antibodies, Bispecific; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; D016207:Cytokines; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins