Monoclonal Antibody ( Magic Bullets ) : A Promising Treatment For Cancer

Some of traditional drugs may be effective in patients whose cancers have a specific molecular target, and not for other patients. To solve this problem of patient-specificity, pharmaceutical research have seen the expansion of individually tailored cancer treatment, which is an application of targeted therapy, and this is where biopharmaceuticals are. As an increasing part of the population is diagnosed with cancer and as these patients live longer, increasing care will be given to patients who have received these drugs. Moreover, in the case of cancer therapy, those drugs and especially with mABs are a promise of less side effects : recombinant DNA technology makes it possible to genetically engineer an antibody to reduce the risk of host immune response.

It has targeted cells that work to kill and defend any pathogen or impurity that enters one’s body. In the case of cancers, a person’s cells grow abnormally forming a tumor. Unlike normal cells, cancer cells lose the ability to undergo apoptosis, cell death. Thus, one’s body harvests a tumor that most likely has a chance to spread and become deadly. Luckily, the biotech industry concocted innovative research that called for a new method of cancer treatment. Immunotherapy is designed to program one’s immune system to destroy and fight off the cancer. Originally, it has been mainly used for allergies. Dosages of medication or vaccinations are given to a patient to ensure that the immune system will not overreact to certain types of foreign substances. The therapy requires a drug that delivers an anticancer immune cell, specifically designed to attach on to the specific antigen that the tumor contains. According to scientist, immunotherapy gives patients “long term protection with reduced side effects against the cancer” (McGinley). The purpose of this treatment is to strengthen the immune system and specifically targets cancerous cells. Due to scientific research and the use of biotechnological methods, immunotherapy is able to prevent the threat of killing cells necessary to one’s body. Providing patients with a treatment that does not take a toll on their bodies, nor threaten to kill healthy cells is one relief the person

Many doctors, physicians, researchers and biotech companies--including the revolutionary Seattle Genetics research facility--are now turning to antibody-assisted cancer treatments and precisely targeted cures instead of treating cancer with a cocktail of chemicals and radiation that generate risky side effects and damage the healthy tissue that patients need to recover. Cancers are among the most frightening and difficult-to-treat illnesses. Ranked as the leading cause of death and disability, cancer is actually an umbrella term that covers many different diseases. Each person faces a unique disease because cancers interact with the body's existing cells, so each case has a

Allison hypothesized that “if the CTLA-4 molecular brake could be temporarily disabled, the immune system would be able to launch a more vigorous attack on cancer cells, resulting in the shrinkage of tumors. ” From this hypothesis, Allison and his colleagues set out to test the theory by delivering a synthetically developed antibody that obstructs CTLA-4 activity to mice. Wolchok did not identify a research question of hypothesis for the studies involving a second immune system-braking molecule known as PD-1, which is a molecule on the surface of many T cells that initiates self-destruction of a cell after coming in contact with cancer cells. Other than the hypothesize provided by James Allison, Wolchok does not provide other specific hypothesis or research questions that are intended to be

It would attach itself to a cancer cell and aggressively aggravate the body to draw in the bodies’ defenses to all out assault that area. In theory, if you kept the patients immune system going, you could bombard the cancer and not have to worry about chemical side effects. Lots of treatments like chemotherapy weaken the immune system, so this would be an interesting alternative. One would first need to figure out a way to attach a “decoy” drug to the cancer cells and have it be one that the body would want to attack.

Monoclonal antibodies to treat disease, one application of this would be the use of the antibodies in therapy. In this therapeutic application, the mouse monoclonal antibody for CD3 antigen on the human T cells. The use of this was to prevent the rejection of the transplanted kidneys for patients with T cell mediated graft rejection.

Immunotherapy has caught the interest of researchers as these treatments use the own body immune system to to detect and destroy cancerous cells. A cancer vaccine has been the most appealing as it could be made of whole pancreatic cancer cells, so that the body can detect these foreign cells and build up antibodies, so when these cells do show up later the body can recognize and attack the production of cancerous cells. Fortunately, antibodies have been helpful in various cancers, but it has not worked with treating pancreatic cancers.

Immunotherapy uses the body’s immune system to fight against mesothelioma. This therapy has been used successfully when combined with other treatment options. And unlike other treatments, there are no toxic side effects.

CAR-T cell therapy is a revolutionary treatment from the area of immuno-oncology. It is the most recent form of therapy to be hailed as a ‘miracle cure’ for cancer and is one of the most impressive forms of immunotherapy to date. CAR-T cell therapy takes advantage of our own immune system and uses it to fight cancer, the second leading cause of death in the world. It is a form of immunotherapy that also intertwines with gene therapy, and cell therapy. CAR-T cell therapy is a deviation to traditional medicine. It comprises of modified T lymphocytes (T cells) that have been genetically engineered to produce Chimeric Antigen Receptors (CARs) on their surface, which allow the T cells to identify an antigen located on

As the world continues to suffer from these devastating diseases, researchers continue to find alternative therapeutic ways of addressing cancer treatment. It is on this premise that various immunotherapeutic alternatives have emerged and currently garnering the greatest level of attention and already raising hope throughout the world in addressing the treatment of NSCLC. However, this can no longer be viewed as a discovery but a wave in the medicine world that began in the 20th century. Various researchers have found the importance of the role of immune systems in fighting the growth of tumor caused by cancer cells. A study by Huncharek (2000) stated that specific immune boosters are capable of eliminating preclinical cancers. In contrast, Jermal et al. (2011) found that immunotherapy is an effective approach for the treatment of tumors that have already turned into solid. Similarly, the researchers highlighted that immunotherapy can be an effective approach to the treatment of melanoma as well as renal cell cancers (Lasalvia-Prisco, 2008). However, Jemal et al. (2011) noted that immunotherapy cannot achieve much in cancer treatment due to limitation brought about by the emission of immunosuppressive cytokines and subsequent loss of antigen expressions. Recent development in research studies on the immunotherapy approach to cancer treatment continues to elicit mixed reactions among researchers of medicinal ecology (Jadad et al., 1996). However, recent development in

CD-47 is a molecule found on the surface of human cells, and functions as a signal for macrophages to not “eat” the cells. Unfortunately, these molecules also permeate cancer cells, rendering the cancer cells incapable of being destroyed by the immune system. Through experiments, researchers developed a treatment using antibodies that could destruct the CD-47 molecules on cancer cells. A therapy that could stop tumors before

Immunotherapy is a form of medical treatment intended to stimulate or restore the ability of the immune system to fight infection and disease. This can be by inducing, enhancing, or suppressing an immune response. Immunotherapies designed to elicit or amplify an immune response are classified as activation immunotherapies, while those that reduce or suppress immune response are suppression immunotherapies. Active immunotherapy has been effective against agents that normally cause acute self-limiting infectious disease. However, a more effective immunotherapy for chronic infectious diseases or cancer requires the use of appropriate target antigens; the

Have you ever heard of the cancer treatment Immunotherapy? Well Immunotherapy is treatment that uses certain parts of a person’s immune system to fight diseases such as cancer, which can be done in a few different ways. One way is stimulating your own immune system to work harder or smarter to attack cancer cells. Second, giving your immune system components , such as man-made immune system proteins. The immune system is a collection of organs, special cells, and substances that help protect you from infections and some other diseases. Immune cells and the substances they make travel through your body to protect it from germs that cause infections. There are 4 main types of cancer immunotherapy. Those 4 types are Monoclonal antibodies ( man-made

Chemotherapy is a drug, or a variety of different drugs designed to kills cancer cells that have metastasized around the body, shrink primary tumours or slow the growth of tumours (Triggle & Hecht, 2010). It is a non-selective cytotoxic drug which target both malignant and normal cells (Craft, Gordon & Tiziani, 2011). Radiation and surgery are also treatments, used with chemotherapy to destroy cancer cells in the body (Sugerman, 2013). Chemotherapy is done to shrink a tumour before surgically removing it, or may even be done after surgery to destroy any cancer cells that are left behind (Sugerman, 2013). Nonchemotherapy agents are sometimes administered with chemotherapy, such as antibodies, to help reduce tumour growth (Sugerman, 2013).

With upwards of 100 000 new cancer cases diagnosed yearly in Australia, research into cancer therapy and prevention has continued to increase, with approximately $252 million in funding going into this field over the past two years in Australia alone (Cancer Australia, 2016). Current cancer therapies can involve invasive surgeries or the destruction of healthy cells (Cancer Health Centre, 2011), which is why new technologies are currently in development to provide patients with an effective treatment option with limited side effects. According to Scott, Alison & Wolchok (2012), “monoclonal antibody-based treatment of cancer has been established as one of the most successful therapeutic strategies for both hematologic malignancies and solid tumours in the last 20 years”. While monoclonal antibodies are a commonly used biopharmaceutical product, bispecific antibodies are being increasingly utilised due to their ability to bind to two different entities. The use of monoclonal bispecific antibodies for targeting and delivering nanomedicines to cancer cells has been explored by Taylor et. al (2015), and their research has been outlined in ‘Nanocell targeting using engineered bispecific antibodies’. Through the use of commonplace methodology and systematic analysis, Taylor et. al provides much needed progress in the field of cancer therapy biopharmaceuticals, only let down by minor omissions in practical elements regarding further applications of the conclusions