title: Next generation of antibody therapy for cancer.
abstract: Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) have become a major class of therapeutic agents providing effective alternatives to treating various human diseases. To date, 15 mAbs have been approved by regulatory agencies in the world for clinical use in oncology indications. The selectivity and specificity, the unique pharmacokinetics, and the ability to engage and activate the host immune system differentiate these biologics from traditional small molecule anticancer drugs. mAb-based regimens have brought clinical benefits, including improvements in overall survival, to patients with a variety of cancers. Many challenges still remain, however, to fully realize the potential of these new medicines. With our further understanding of cancer biology, mechanism of antibody action, and advancement of antibody engineering technologies, many novel antibody formats or antibody-derived molecules are emerging as promising new generation therapeutics. Carefully designed and engineered, they retain the advantage of specificity and selectivity of original antibodies, but in the meantime acquire additional special features such as improved pharmacokinetics, increased selectivity, and enhanced anticancer efficacy. Promising clinical results are being generated with these newly improved antibody-based therapeutics.
authors.affiliation: Kadmon Pharmaceuticals, New York, New York 10016, USA. Zhenping@kadmon.com
authors.forename: Zhenping
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yan
mesh_terms: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018951:Antigens, CD20 / Q000276:immunology; D066246:ErbB Receptors / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D018796:Immunoconjugates / Q000627:therapeutic use; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology; D015202:Protein Engineering; D053245:RANK Ligand / Q000276:immunology; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000276:immunology; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; D018951:Antigens, CD20; D066246:ErbB Receptors; D018796:Immunoconjugates; D053245:RANK Ligand; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; C505688:TNFSF11 protein, human; C467484:VEGFA protein, human; C512478:EGFR protein, human