Gecombineerde toepassing van monoklonale antilichamen in de oncologie

Monoclonal antibodies are becoming increasingly important in oncology. These antibodies specifically inhibit signalling pathways in tumour growth. By combining monoclonal antibodies several pathways may be blocked simultaneously, leading to potential synergism. Publications on fifteen different combinations of antibodies in oncology are currently available. In this article an overview is given of these published studies. Some of these combinations have proven clinical benefit, for example the combination of trastuzumab and pertuzumab in HER2-positive breast cancer, which shows a synergistic effect on antitumour activity in clinical studies. However, other combinations lead to unfavourable results, such as bevacizumab with cetuximab or panitumumab in advanced colorectal cancer. These combinations result in shorter progression-free survival and increased toxicity compared to therapy with a single antibody. More studies are necessary to unravel the mechanisms behind synergistic or antagonistic effects of combining monoclonal antibodies in oncology.