Monoclonal Antibody Therapy

Antibodies help terminate harmful pathogens in the body. Monoclonal antibodies are good examples of these. All pathogens that enter the body are not readily distinguished by antibodies. Antibodies sort of highlight the pathogens for the immune system to recognize and terminate. In other individuals, even their own cells can destroy other healthy cells. Cancers best exemplify these few instances. Cancer causes cells to multiply at rapid rate and cause trouble for other healthy cells surrounding them. Immune cells fail to recognize your abnormally growing cells as foes and do not attack them.

In the laboratory, monoclonal antibodies can be produced two ways. The first one would be with the use of a mouse’s immune cell, while the second one is with the use of a human antibody inserted into a mouse’s immune cell. Monoclonal antibodies are exactly what their names suggest to be. They are antibodies that were formed by copies or clones of a parent’s immune cell, which means that these monoclonal antibodies do exactly what the antibodies of the original parent immune cell do. Monoclonal can actually also cling to specific pathogens like what their origin cells can do.

Aside from being mono specific, cloning gives monoclonal antibodies another property and that is multiplicity. Monoclonal antibodies can attach to more foreign bodies if there are more of them. They can easily be produced or clones to match the rate of replication of cancer.

Cancer therapies are increasingly being improved to prevent even healthy cells from being injured from the therapy. This includes monoclonal antibodies. Monoclonal antibodies mark the malignant cells so that immune cells can identify them. More monoclonal antibodies can quickly mark more cancer cells that the immune system can easily kill.

Monoclonal antibodies can even destroy the communication center of cancer cells to prevent them from sending signals to the body to send it nourishment, blood supply and all things that make them grow. When this happens, all resources of the cancer cells are cut and they cease to grow. Blood vessels are also blocked from forming to feed the cancer cells. As an alternative to preventing the growth factor receptor, the antibodies prevent the receptor for blood vessel formation. Cancer cells will stop growing because they won’t be fed. This may even cause them to die. Aside from the ways mentioned above, monoclonal antibodies can carry radioactive substances that bind to the cancer cells exposing them to radiation and killing them thereafter. This will save thousands of cancer patients. Therefore selective radiation therapy can be given.

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