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Alemtuzumab is a monoclonal antibody used to treat B-CLL, one of the most prevalent forms of adult chronic leukemia. It specifically binds CD52, a protein found on the surface of essentially all B and T cells of the immune system. By binding the CD52 protein on the malignant B cells, the antibody targets it for removal from the circulation. Scientists believe that alemtuzumab triggers anti-body-mediated lysis of the B cells, a method that the immune system uses to eliminate foreign cells.
Alemtuzumab has been approved by the FDA for treatment of refractory B-CLL. For a patient's disease to be classified as refractory, both alkylating agents and fludarabine treatment must have been tried and failed. Thus, this drug gives patients who have tried all approved treatments for B-CLL another option. As most patients with B-CLL are in stage III or IV by the time both alkylating agents and fludarabine have been tried, the experience with alemtuzumab treatment are primarily with those stages of the disease. In clinical trials, about 30% of patients had a partial response to the drug, with 2% of these being complete responses.
This antibody has been tested with limited success in the treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) and for the preparation of patients with various immune cell malignancies for bone marrow transplantation. There is also a clinical trial ongoing to test the ability of this anti-body to prevent rejection in kidney transplantation.
— Michelle Johnson, M.S., J.D.
