What is Monoclonal Antibody Therapy for Cancer?

Monoclonal antibody therapy is a kind of immunotherapy that empowers the body’s immune system to attack cancer cells.

Our body produces billions of different kinds of antibodies, which are part of the immune system. They have specific archnemeses in the immune system that they target, such as pathogens like diseased cells or viruses. Monoclonal antibodies used in cancer treatment are designed in a lab to target certain antigens — foreign substances in the body — or overexpressed receptors — a structure that selectively receives and binds a specific substance — that live on the surface of cancer cells. By targeting those antigens, the antibodies are able to latch onto the cancer cells and act as a “call to arms” for other disease-fighting warriors in the immune system.

More than a dozen monoclonal antibodies have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to fight different types of cancer, including breast, head and neck, lung, liver, bladder, and melanoma skin cancers, as well as Hodgkin lymphoma. First tried in advanced melanoma, monoclonal antibodies have extended some patients’ survival as much as 10 years.