Browse Prescribing Notes by Therapeutic Subcategory

Monoclonal antibodies (mAb) have a variety of mechanisms of action including antibody-dependant cellular cytotoxicity, complement-dependent cellular cytotoxicity and direct induction of apoptosis. To increase half-life and reduce rejection they are usually chimerized or humanized when used as therapeutic reagents; the names are terminated with -ximab for chimeric antibodies and -umab for humanized antibodies. MAbs may also be combined with toxins to form immunotoxins (eg, Mylotarg, Ontak) or combined with a radioactive isotope (eg, Zevalin).