Can They Improve Results Obtained with Rituximab and Chemotherapy?
Recently, a number of monoclonal antibodies have been developed that appear to meet the criteria for tolerable single agents in lymphoma therapy. These include: • galiximab, a humanized antibody that targets CD80, found on most B-cells;1 • epratuzumab, an antibody against CD22, now being combined with R-CHOP in trials;2,3 • SGN40 and SGN30, directed against CD40 and CD30, respectively;4,5 • CMC-544, directed against CD22, also containing an added immunotoxin that causes added cytotoxicity;6 • mapatumumab, an antibody that is an agonist for Trail-R1, a member of the death receptor family that induces apoptosis when activated;7 and • zanolimumab, a potentially important antibody for T-cell lymphomas, approved in the U.S. for therapy of cutaneous T-cell lymphomas.8 Of these antibodies, galiximab and epratuzumab have been studied the most. Galiximab is a fully humanized antibody, with the parent antibody produced in the macaque. In the original Phase I/II trial involving 34 patients with r
