Ever get confused with medical terminology? Happens to me all the time. Anticytokine therapies and other biologics are revolutionizing the treatment of some serious diseases. Here's an example of a patient with psoriasis who responded to alefacept.When you're talking about some of the newer biologic agents, you may find that they're easy to mix up. Here's a helpful guide regarding nomenclature.
Abbreviations placed at the ends of the names convey specific information relating to their structure:
* "-cept" refers to fusion of a receptor to the Fc part of human IgG1
* "-mab" indicates a monoclonal antibody (mAb)
* "-ximab" indicates a chimeric mAb
* "-zumab" indicates a humanized mAb
Etanercept is a classic example of a TNF receptor fusion protein. Infliximab is a chimeric mAb directed against TNF. Certolizumab and tocilizumab are humanized mAbs.
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