Monoclonal antibodies therapeutic cancer

A.M. Scott, R. Hofheinz, A. Amelsberg, and M.O. Karlsson. 2004. Population pharmacokinetics of sibrotuzumab, a novel therapeutic monoclonal antibody, in cancer patients. Invest. New Drugs 22 39-52. 

M. Driscoll, R. Hcuisen, C. Ding, D.E. Cramer, J. Yan, Therapeutic potential of various P-glucan sources in conjunction with anti-tumor monoclonal antibody in cancer therapy. Cancer Biology Therapy, 8 (3), 216-223, 2009. 

The most widely studied therapeutic proteins produced in plants include monoclonal antibodies for passive immunotherapy and antigens for use as oral vaccines [40]. Antibodies against dental caries, rheumatoid arthritis, cholera, E. coli diarrhea, malaria, certain cancers, Norwalk virus, HIV, rhinovirus, influenza, hepatitis B virus and herpes simplex virus have been produced in transgenic plants. However, the anti-Streptococcus mutans secretory antibody for the prevention of dental caries is the only plant-derived antibody currently in Phase II clinical trials [40]. Until recently, most antibodies were expressed in tobacco, potato, alfalfa, soybean, rice and wheat [9], It has been estimated that for every 170 tons of harvested tobacco, 100 tons represents harvested leaves. A single hectare could thus yield 50 kg of secretory IgA [3, 41]. Furthermore, it has been estimated that the cost of antibody production in plants is half that in transgenic animals and 20 times lower than in mammalian cell cul-... 

Thus far, Lhe discussion relaling to the medical uses of monoclonals has focused exclusively upon cancer. Monoclonal antibodies (and their derivatives), however, have a far broader potential therapeutic application. Actual/potential additional uses include detection and treatment of cardiovascular disease, infectious agents, and various additional medical conditions (Table 13.2). 

Development trends for monoclonal antibody cancer therapeutics, Nature Reviews Drug Discovery 6 340-356... 

The ground-breaking development of monoclonal antibodies by Kohler and Milstein [21] initiated the development of antibody-mediated therapeutics for cancer. Because of their unique specificity, MAb were predicted to become the magic bullets in the battle against cancer. Over the last two and a half decades MAbs have moved from clone to clinic for the treatment of various malignancies. Several MAbs are currently entering clinical trials and should appear on the market in the next few years. The first MAb for cancer therapy was approved in the US in 1997. 

Table 8.5. Unconjugated monoclonal antibodies that have been developed to be used therapeutically to treat cancer.

Witte L, Hicklin DJ, Zhu Z, et al. Monoclonal antibodies targeting the VEGF receptor-2 (Flk-l/KDR) as an anti-angiogenic therapeutic strategy. Cancer Metastasis Rev 1998 17 155-161. 

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