Biological Therapies

Cancer growth inhibitors:

Cancer cells need to communicate with each other in order to grow and multiply; they do this through a series of chemical reactions. Drugs called cancer growth inhibitors interrupt the communication process and in this way prevent the cancer from developing. Each cancer growth inhibitor works in a different way, these will be explained in more detail.

What are monoclonal antibodies?

Antibodies are substances produced by the immune system in response to foreign substances such as bacteria, viruses or toxins antigens .They are the body’s natural defence against infection.

Monoclonal antibodies are antibodies made in a laboratory.They aim to destroy some types of cancer cells while causing minimum damage to normal cells.They locate and attach to certain proteins on the surface of particular cancer cells receptors , and ‘lock’ onto them (like a key in a lock).

Once the monoclonal antibody has ‘locked’ into a receptor it can;

• Cause the body’s immune system to attack the cancer cells.
• Cause the cell to destroy itself.
• Block the receptor from ‘locking’ with another protein, stopping cancer cell growth.