Rituximab proved that monoclonal antibodies were highly effective against lymphoma by targeting the CD20 protein on the surface of cancer cells (and healthy B-cells, for that matter). A new generation of antibodies is targeting entirely novel new targets, with varying effectiveness. One such antibody is CT-011, which attacks the "Programmed Death-1" (PD-1) receptor. Such receptors can be used to reactivate programmed cell-death commands which the cancer has mutated to ignore.
In its first Phase I trial, CT-011 was given to a range of cancer patients. However, it garnered significant attention when, by chance, the single follicular lymphoma patient present in that study went into complete remission. A Phase II study of 30 follicular lymphoma patients is ongoing.
Published Studies
J.R. Westin et al. "Phase II Safety and Efficacy Study of CT-011." Journal of Clinical Oncology (2010).
Ranaan Berger et al. "Phase I Safety and Pharmacokinetic Study of CT-011." Clinical Cancer Research (2008).
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ReplyDeleteThis is the perfect blog for anyone who wants to know about this topic. Monoclonal antibodies are proteins that help identify foreign substances to the immune system, such as a bacteria or a virus. Antibodies work by binding to the foreign substance to mark it as foreign...