Monoclonal antibodies in the treatment of cancer, part 1

Implications of IV monoclonal antibody infusion reaction for the patient, caregiver, and practice: results of a multicenter study

“…Mild to moderate IRs (CTC grade 1-2) are not uncommon. However, in previous trials, severe to life threatening IRs (CTC grade [3][4] were observed in only 2-3% of patients treated with cetuximab and in only 10% of patients treated with rituximab [12,14].…”

“…The advent of monoclonal antibody (MoAb) technology [9] has led to the development of antibody-mediated cancer therapies within the last decade [2,3]. MoAbs treat cancers by targeting specific antigens or receptors located on malignant cells, whereas conventional chemotherapy does not distinguish between malignant and normal cells [3,13,15].…”

“…MoAbs treat cancers by targeting specific antigens or receptors located on malignant cells, whereas conventional chemotherapy does not distinguish between malignant and normal cells [3,13,15]. As a result, fewer adverse effects are expected with MoAb treatments compared to chemotherapy [3,14,15].…”

“…MoAbs treat cancers by targeting specific antigens or receptors located on malignant cells, whereas conventional chemotherapy does not distinguish between malignant and normal cells [3,13,15]. As a result, fewer adverse effects are expected with MoAb treatments compared to chemotherapy [3,14,15]. Cetuximab (Erbitux®) and rituximab (Rituxan®) are MoAbs indicated for the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer and lymphoid malignancies, respectively [12,16].…”

“…However, patients with cancer receiving MoAbs are at risk for developing infusion reactions (IRs), immunologic responses that can result from the intravenous administration of any therapeutic agent. IRs are most common during the first infusion and occur less frequently with subsequent infusions [2,3]. National Cancer Institute grades IRs using the five-point Common Terminology Criteria (CTC) for Adverse Events, version 3.0 for cytokine release syndromes/acute infusion reactions, where grade 1 represents a mild IR and grade 5 indicates death [10].…”