title: Trial Watch: Tumor-targeting monoclonal antibodies in cancer therapy.
abstract: In 1997, for the first time in history, a monoclonal antibody (mAb), i.e., the chimeric anti-CD20 molecule rituximab, was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for use in cancer patients. Since then, the panel of mAbs that are approved by international regulatory agencies for the treatment of hematopoietic and solid malignancies has not stopped to expand, nowadays encompassing a stunning amount of 15 distinct molecules. This therapeutic armamentarium includes mAbs that target tumor-associated antigens, as well as molecules that interfere with tumor-stroma interactions or exert direct immunostimulatory effects. These three classes of mAbs exert antineoplastic activity via distinct mechanisms, which may or may not involve immune effectors other than the mAbs themselves. In previous issues ofOncoImmunology, we provided a brief scientific background to the use of mAbs, all types confounded, in cancer therapy, and discussed the results of recent clinical trials investigating the safety and efficacy of this approach. Here, we focus on mAbs that primarily target malignant cells or their interactions with stromal components, as opposed to mAbs that mediate antineoplastic effects by activating the immune system. In particular, we discuss relevant clinical findings that have been published during the last 13 months as well as clinical trials that have been launched in the same period to investigate the therapeutic profile of hitherto investigational tumor-targeting mAbs.
authors.affiliation: Gustave Roussy; Villejuif, France ; INSERM, U848; Villejuif, France ; Equipe 11 labellisée par la Ligue Nationale contre le Cancer; Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers; Paris, France ; Université Paris-Sud/Paris XI; Paris, France.
authors.forename: Erika
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vacchelli
authors.affiliation: Gustave Roussy; Villejuif, France ; INSERM, U848; Villejuif, France ; Equipe 11 labellisée par la Ligue Nationale contre le Cancer; Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers; Paris, France.
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Aranda
authors.affiliation: Gustave Roussy; Villejuif, France.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Eggermont
authors.affiliation: Université Paris Descartes/Paris V; Sorbonne Paris Cité; Paris, France ; Université Pierre et Marie Curie/Paris VI; Paris, France ; INSERM, U872; Paris, France ; Equipe 15, Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers; Paris, France.
authors.forename: Jérôme
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Galon
authors.affiliation: Université Pierre et Marie Curie/Paris VI; Paris, France ; INSERM, U872; Paris, France ; Equipe 13, Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers; Paris, France.
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sautès-Fridman
authors.affiliation: Gustave Roussy; Villejuif, France ; INSERM, U1015; CICBT507; Villejuif, France.
authors.forename: Laurence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zitvogel
authors.affiliation: Pôle de Biologie; Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou; AP-HP; Paris, France ; Metabolomics and Cell Biology Platforms; Gustave Roussy; Villejuif, France ; INSERM, U848; Villejuif, France ; Equipe 11 labellisée par la Ligue Nationale contre le Cancer; Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers; Paris, France ; Université Paris Descartes/Paris V; Sorbonne Paris Cité; Paris, France.
authors.forename: Guido
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kroemer
authors.affiliation: Gustave Roussy; Villejuif, France ; Université Paris Descartes/Paris V; Sorbonne Paris Cité; Paris, France ; Equipe 11 labellisée par la Ligue Nationale contre le Cancer; Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers; Paris, France.
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Galluzzi
keywords: bevacizumab; brentuximab vedotin; cetuximab; nimotuzumab; trastuzumab; tumor-associated antigen