The next step for the genome project is to annotate all known genetic sequences. That means providing for each protein detailed data on its function, location, variants, similarities to other proteins and the like. Researchers believe this will assist them even more because antibodies attack proteins in diseased cells.
Already, there's been an increase in the number of monoclonal antibody drugs in the research pipeline. Last year, 80 such drugs were under development, and Newman expects more than 200 by the end of this year.
It's been a long wait for cancer researchers.
Two scientists in England, Cesar Milstein and Georges Kohler, won the Nobel Price for medicine in 1984 for producing the first monoclonal antibodies in mice.
The researchers injected mice with cells and then extracted B-cells, the ones that produced antibodies useful in attacking the tumor. Then they cloned B-cells. Because each antibody comes from a single B-cell that is cloned uniformly, the antibody is called "monoclonal."
The breakthrough was hailed as revolutionary because antibodies could be designed to attack only bad cells while leaving alone healthy ones. Cures for many cancers were thought to be right around the corner.
But after numerous failed tests, it became clear in the early 1990s that human immune systems would overwhelmingly reject the mice antibodies.
Medarex and Abgenix Inc then developed mice altered with antibody-producing genes from human. These are proving successful in trials. Other companies have managed to clone antibody-producing genes that are 95 percent human and five percent mouse.
Success rate
Drakeman predicts success for about a third of the antibody-related drugs that are researched, compared with 10 percent for other drugs.
He said tests of antibody drugs "are faster, less expensive to develop and have a higher success rate" than other drug research.
Despite all the renewed hoopla surrounding the monoclonal antibodies, many researchers remain grounded in their praise.
Few hail them as the "magic bullets" promised a decade ago. There's a realization that other drugs and treatments will be needed along with monoclonal antibodies to help cure the targeted diseases.
"I don't think they will ever cure cancer," said Herman Kattlov, a medical editor with the American Cancer Society. "Cancers have a way of learning how to slip away from treatments. But the antibodies are definitely a good tool."
RSS