More than 10 million new cases of cancer are registered annually around the world. Approximately 22 million people live with cancer, and the disease is responsible for the deaths of around 6 million individuals per year. Contrary to cardiac illnesses, cancer survival rates have not improved significantly over the last 50 years. Thus cancer continues to represent a challenge for medical science. Detection and early treatment continue to be the best options for survival.
The current state of knowledge requires new advances to complement the traditional therapies of surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Among the new therapeutic alternatives, monoclonal antibodies are the most promising of the targeted therapies, which refer to those that act upon only tumor cells. Currently, nine approved monoclonal antibodies exist with very promising results and more than one hundred are under development for the treatment of different cancers. The generation, humanization and production of monoclonal antibodies involves research and development activities on the cutting edge of biotechnological knowledge, and are being recognized as important allies in the challenge of cancer treatment.