Monoclonal Antibody-Directed Cytotoxic Therapy
Monoclonal Antibody-Directed Cytotoxic Therapy
Current cancer therapies provide only a 40% probability that a patient diagnosed with cancer today will be alive in 5 years' time. Furthermore, the relatively low therapeutic index of many anticancer drugs results in severe toxic effects on many normal tissues when the drugs are used at dosages necessary to kill tumour cells. As a consequence, new cancer therapies are being investigated which aim to specifically target tumour cells for therapy, sparing normal cells from exposure to the cytotoxic agent. One such approach is monoclonal antibody-directed therapy, which is now being studied in phase III trials.
Most monoclonal antibody-directed cytotoxic agents are potent, specific and relatively nontoxic. Recent trial results and other data yet to be formally reported have revealed problems and limitations with this therapeutic approach, but also some cause for optimism. It is hoped that the development of recombinant antibodies with better tumour targeting characteristics will help solve the problems, and in the future it may be that most or all patients with stage I/II disease will receive immunoconjugate therapy (along with more traditional forms of therapy) in the post-surgical phase. The unique capacity of monoclonal antibodies to reach microscopic tumour deposits, outside the reach of surgical intervention, makes them ideal in this regard.
Current cancer therapies provide only a 40% probability that a patient diagnosed with cancer today will be alive in 5 years' time. Furthermore, the relatively low therapeutic index of many anticancer drugs results in severe toxic effects on many normal tissues when the drugs are used at dosages necessary to kill tumour cells. As a consequence, new cancer therapies are being investigated which aim to specifically target tumour cells for therapy, sparing normal cells from exposure to the cytotoxic agent. One such approach is monoclonal antibody-directed therapy, which is now being studied in phase III trials.
Most monoclonal antibody-directed cytotoxic agents are potent, specific and relatively nontoxic. Recent trial results and other data yet to be formally reported have revealed problems and limitations with this therapeutic approach, but also some cause for optimism. It is hoped that the development of recombinant antibodies with better tumour targeting characteristics will help solve the problems, and in the future it may be that most or all patients with stage I/II disease will receive immunoconjugate therapy (along with more traditional forms of therapy) in the post-surgical phase. The unique capacity of monoclonal antibodies to reach microscopic tumour deposits, outside the reach of surgical intervention, makes them ideal in this regard.
Source...