Monoclonal antibody | |
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Type | Whole antibody |
Source | Human |
Target | CTLA-4 |
Clinical data | |
Trade names | Imjudo |
Other names | tremelimumab-actl, ticilimumab, CP-675, CP-675,206 |
AHFS/Drugs.com | Monograph |
MedlinePlus | a622078 |
License data |
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Pregnancy category |
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Routes of administration | Intravenous |
Drug class | Antineoplastic agent |
ATC code | |
Legal status | |
Legal status | |
Identifiers | |
CAS Number | |
IUPHAR/BPS | |
DrugBank | |
ChemSpider |
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UNII | |
KEGG | |
Chemical and physical data | |
Formula | C6500H9974N1726O2026S52 |
Molar mass | 146382.47 g·mol−1 |
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Tremelimumab, sold under the brand name Imjudo, is a fully human monoclonal antibody used for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (a type of liver cancer). [7] [8] Tremelimumab is designed to attach to and block CTLA-4, a protein that controls the activity of T cells, which are part of the immune system (the body’s natural defenses). [8]
The most common side effects when used in combination with durvalumab include rash, pruritus (itching), diarrhea, abdominal (belly) pain, increased levels of liver enzymes, fever, hypothyroidism (an underactive thyroid gland), cough, peripheral edema (swelling especially of the ankles and feet) and increased level of lipase (an enzyme that helps digest fat, mainly made in the pancreas). [8]
Tremelimumab was approved for medical use in the United States in October 2022, [7] [9] [10] and in the European Union in February 2023. [8]
Tremelimumab is indicated, in combination with durvalumab, for the treatment of adults with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma. [7] [11] [8]
Tremelimumab in combination with durvalumab and platinum-based chemotherapy is indicated for the first-line treatment of adults with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer with no sensitizing epidermal growth factor receptor mutations or anaplastic lymphoma kinase positive mutations. [8]
Tremelimumab aims to stimulate an immune system attack on tumors. Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) can recognize and destroy cancer cells. However, there is also an inhibitory mechanism (immune checkpoint) that interrupts this destruction. Tremelimumab turns off this inhibitory mechanism and allows CTLs to continue to destroy the cancer cells. [12]
Like ipilimumab, tremelimumab is antibody that binds to the protein CTLA-4, which is expressed on the surface of activated T lymphocytes and inhibits the killing of cancer cells. [13] Tremelimumab blocks the binding of the antigen-presenting cell ligands B7.1 and B7.2 to CTLA-4, resulting in inhibition of B7-CTLA-4-mediated downregulation of T-cell activation; subsequently, B7.1 or B7.2 may interact with another T-cell surface receptor protein, CD28, resulting in a B7-CD28-mediated T-cell activation unopposed by B7-CTLA-4-mediated inhibition. [13]
Unlike Ipilimumab (another fully human anti-CTLA-4 monoclonal antibody), which is an IgG1 isotype, tremelimumab is an IgG2 isotype. [14] [15]
Previously in development by Pfizer, [16] it is in investigation by MedImmune, a wholly owned subsidiary of AstraZeneca. [17]
Phase I and II clinical studies in metastatic melanoma showed some responses. [18] However, based on early interim analysis of phase III data, Pfizer designated tremelimumab as a failure and terminated the trial in April 2008. [16] [19]
However, within a year, the survival curves showed separation of the treatment and control groups. [20]
Although it was designated in April 2015 as orphan drug status in mesothelioma, [21] tremelimumab failed to improve lifespan in the phase IIb DETERMINE trial, which assessed the drug as a second or third-line treatment for unresectable malignant mesothelioma. [22] [23]
In a phase III trial, AstraZeneca paired tremelimumab with a PD-L1 inhibitor, durvalumab, for the first-line treatment of non-small cell lung cancer. [24] The trial was conducted across 17 countries, and in July 2017, AstraZeneca announced that it had failed to meet its primary endpoint of progression-free survival. [25]
On 15 December 2022, the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) adopted a positive opinion, recommending the granting of a marketing authorization for the medicinal product Imjudo, intended for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma. [26] The applicant for this medicinal product is AstraZeneca AB. [26] Tremelimumab was approved for medical use in the European Union in February 2023. [8] [27]
Tremelimumab is the international nonproprietary name (INN). [28]
AstraZeneca plc (AZ) is a British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with its headquarters at the Cambridge Biomedical Campus in Cambridge, England. It has a portfolio of products for major diseases in areas including oncology, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, infection, neuroscience, respiratory, and inflammation. It was involved in developing the Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.
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Cancer immunotherapy (immuno-oncotherapy) is the stimulation of the immune system to treat cancer, improving the immune system's natural ability to fight the disease. It is an application of the fundamental research of cancer immunology (immuno-oncology) and a growing subspecialty of oncology.
Sorafenib, sold under the brand name Nexavar, is a kinase inhibitor drug approved for the treatment of primary kidney cancer, advanced primary liver cancer, FLT3-ITD positive AML and radioactive iodine resistant advanced thyroid carcinoma.
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Cabozantinib, sold under the brand names Cometriq and Cabometyx among others, is an anti-cancer medication used to treat medullary thyroid cancer, renal cell carcinoma, and hepatocellular carcinoma. It is a small-molecule tyrosine-kinase inhibitor (TKI) of c-Met (HGFR) and VEGFR2, and also inhibits AXL, RET, and FLT3. It was discovered and developed by Exelixis Inc.
Selumetinib (INN), sold under the brand name Koselugo, is a medication for the treatment of children, two years of age and older, with neurofibromatosis type I (NF-1), a genetic disorder of the nervous system causing tumors to grow on nerves. It is taken by mouth.
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Durvalumab, sold under the brand name Imfinzi, is an FDA-approved immunotherapy for cancer, developed by Medimmune/AstraZeneca. It is a human immunoglobulin G1 kappa (IgG1κ) monoclonal antibody that blocks the interaction of programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) with the PD-1 (CD279).
Atezolizumab, sold under the brand name Tecentriq among others, is a monoclonal antibody medication used to treat urothelial carcinoma, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), small cell lung cancer (SCLC), hepatocellular carcinoma and alveolar soft part sarcoma, but discontinued for use in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). It is a fully humanized, engineered monoclonal antibody of IgG1 isotype against the protein programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1).
The immune-related response criteria (irRC) is a set of published rules that define when tumors in cancer patients improve ("respond"), stay the same ("stabilize"), or worsen ("progress") during treatment, where the compound being evaluated is an immuno-oncology drug. Immuno-oncology, part of the broader field of cancer immunotherapy, involves agents which harness the body's own immune system to fight cancer. Traditionally, patient responses to new cancer treatments have been evaluated using two sets of criteria, the WHO criteria and the response evaluation criteria in solid tumors (RECIST). The immune-related response criteria, first published in 2009, arose out of observations that immuno-oncology drugs would fail in clinical trials that measured responses using the WHO or RECIST Criteria, because these criteria could not account for the time gap in many patients between initial treatment and the apparent action of the immune system to reduce the tumor burden.
PD-1 inhibitors and PD-L1 inhibitors are a group of checkpoint inhibitor anticancer drugs that block the activity of PD-1 and PDL1 immune checkpoint proteins present on the surface of cells. Immune checkpoint inhibitors are emerging as a front-line treatment for several types of cancer.
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Tucatinib, sold under the brand name Tukysa, is an anticancer medication used for the treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer. It is a small molecule inhibitor of HER2. It was developed by Array BioPharma and licensed to Cascadian Therapeutics.
Checkpoint inhibitor therapy is a form of cancer immunotherapy. The therapy targets immune checkpoints, key regulators of the immune system that when stimulated can dampen the immune response to an immunologic stimulus. Some cancers can protect themselves from attack by stimulating immune checkpoint targets. Checkpoint therapy can block inhibitory checkpoints, restoring immune system function. The first anti-cancer drug targeting an immune checkpoint was ipilimumab, a CTLA4 blocker approved in the United States in 2011.
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