Monoclonal antibodies (MOABs), also known as MoAbs or mAbs, are a form of therapy in which artificial antibodies (proteins that attack foreign substances including bacteria) are injected into cancer patients. These antibodies can help slow growth or destroy cancer cells.

Scientists create monoclonal antibodies by first injecting human cancer cells into mice. When the mice make antibodies to these cells, the mouse plasma cells that produce the antibodies are removed and fused with laboratory-grown cells. These hybrid cells are injected into the human body where they attach to a designated area, usually the surface of certain cancer cells. When this occurs, the body recognizes the cancer cells as foreign, triggering the immune system to detect and attack the cells.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved several MOABs, designed to fight the following cancers:

• Acute myelogenous leukemia
• Breast cancer
• Chronic lymphocytic leukemia
• Colorectal cancer
• Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma