The approved products are the result of

years of work in two major research areas

which are critical to the success of mAbs as
targeted cancer therapeutics: development
of engineering and production methods for
the four main categories of mAbs (murine,
chimeric, humanized and human), and study of
modes of action (for example, tumour cell
toxicity via radiation, cytotoxins, activation
of immune system components or receptor/
ligand blockade). Clinical studies initially
focused on murine mAbs — the category
most readily available in the 1980s — and
on immunoconjugates that used radioactive
elements or cytotoxins to kill tumour cells.
However, only two murine immunoconjugates
(both radiolabelled) have been
approved to date. Of the currently approved
anticancer mAbs, humanized products are
the most numerous of the four categories and
activation of immune system components
or receptor/ligand blockade using unmodified
or ‘naked’ mAbs are the most common
modes of action.