Cancer Monoclonal Antibodies and Associated Factors
Cancer is a fatal disease caused by a mutation in the DNA of a cell. This mutation is repeated multiple times to the cell. Monoclonal antibodies are derived from immunological cells of single parent origin. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy are traditional cancer treatment options, but they have side effects such as toxicity. Monoclonal antibodies provide a new and efficient method of cancer cell specific treatment that targets individual cells. They are used because of the specificity and characteristics of low toxicity.
Monoclonal antibodies have emerged as effective therapeutic agents for many human maladies. However, the ability of antibodies to initiate tumor antigen-specific immune responses has not received as much attention as other mechanisms of antibody action. Here we describe the rationale and evidence for the development of anti-cancer antibodies that can stimulate host tumor antigen-specific immune responses. This can be accomplished by inducing antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity, promoting antibody-targeted cross-presentation of tumor-antigens, or triggering the idiotapic network. Future treatment modifications or combinations should be able to prolong, amplify, and shape these immune responses to enhance the clinical benefits of antibody therapy for human cancer.
Nowadays, among cancer treatments, immunotherapy can be classified as a cancer type specific therapy, which is more popular than non-specific medical methods such as surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. The main objective of immunotherapy is to enable patients' immune system to target cancer cells and destroy them. The methods of treatment used predominantly in cancer immunotherapy are cancer vaccines, adoptive cell therapy, cytokines, and monoclonal antibodies.
Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) comprise a class of therapeutic biology that has been increasingly used in the last decades. The concept of using antibodies for selective target tumors was proposed by Paul Ehrlich a century ago in [1]. The development of hybridoma technology in 1975 enabled the production of monoclonal antibodies, which have similar variable regions and are thus specific to a single epitope. Those immunoglobulin molecules are secreted from a population of identical cells and are homogeneous in structure and binding specificity. Their specificity for the target, coupled with the fact that they are relatively well tolerated and have long life, have contributed to their success in drug development.
