science

Glembatumumab vedotin

Glembatumumab vedotin is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Glembatumumab vedotin rather than just read about it. In short: Glembatumumab vedotin (also known as CDX-011 and CR011-vcMMAE) is an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) that targets cancer cells expressing transmembrane glycoprotein NMB (GPNMB). In May 2010, the U.S FDA granted Fast Track designation to CDX-011 for the treatment of advanced, refractory, or resistant GPNMB-expressing breast cancer.

Key takeaways

Glembatumumab vedotin belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Glembatumumab vedotin to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Glembatumumab vedotin from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Glembatumumab vedotin (also known as CDX-011 and CR011-vcMMAE) is an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) that targets cancer cells expressing transmembrane glycoprotein NMB (GPNMB). In May 2010, the U.S FDA granted Fast Track designation to CDX-011 for the treatment of advanced, refractory, or resistant GPNMB-expressing breast cancer.

Structure and mechanism The fully human IgG2 monoclonal antibody glembatumumab (CR011) is linked to monomethyl auristatin E (MMAE). It uses a valine-citrulline enzyme-cleavable linker. The linkage is stable in the bloodstream. The antibody binds to GPNMB on the cancer cells, the ADC is internalised, the linkage is broken and MMAE is released to kill the cell. In preclinical studies glembatumumab vedotin was capable of killing GPNMB expressing melanoma and breast cancer cells in vitro and inducing partial or complete regression of GPNMB-expressing tumors in mouse models.

Development Glembatumumab vedotin was in development through April 2018 by Celldex Therapeutics, who acquired CuraGen in 2009. It was originally developed through a partnership between CuraGen and Amgen, using Xenomouse technology licensed from Abgenix and ADC technology licensed from Seattle Genetics. In 2015, Celldex announced that it had formed a cooperative research and development agreement with NCI to sponsor two clinical trials for uveal melanoma and pediatric osteosarcoma. These were both phase II clinical trials.

Clinical trials In September 2010 a Phase 2b clinical study started of glembatumumab vedotin in 120 patients with GPNMB-expressing breast cancer including those with triple negative breast cancer. As of June 2011, Phase I/II clinical trials of glembatumumab vedotin for the treatment of advanced melanoma and breast cancer have been completed but no official study result was posted. Preliminary results from these trials have shown that glembatumumab vedotin has some clinical activity (promotes tumor shrinkage) in both cancer types. Patients whose tumors express GPNMB respond better to glembatumumab and have longer progression-free survival than those whose tumors do not express GPNMB; in melanoma, and breast cancer. An accelerated approval Phase II clinical trial (METRIC) investigating glembatumumab vedotin versus capecitabine (2:1 with crossover allowed) has begun in November 2013, expected to enroll 300 patients with GPNMB-expressing metastatic triple negative breast cancer. Patients who have progressed after receiving anthracyclines and taxanes are eligible. Development of the ADC was discontinued in April 2018 after missing the primary endpoint of its study and failed to help women with tough-to-treat metastatic triple-negative breast cancers (TNBC) stay both alive and progression-free for longer than Roche Holding AG's Xeloda (capecitabine).

References

World Health Organization (2009). "International Nonproprietary Names for Pharmaceutical Substances (INN). Proposed INN: List 102" (PDF). WHO Drug Information. 23 (4): 330.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Glembatumumab vedotin

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Glembatumumab vedotin claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Glembatumumab vedotin before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Glembatumumab vedotin ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Glembatumumab vedotin

In research: Glembatumumab vedotin appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Glembatumumab vedotin in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Glembatumumab vedotin is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Antibody–drug conjugate, Drugs not assigned an ATC code, Experimental cancer drugs, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Glembatumumab vedotin outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Glembatumumab vedotin” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Glembatumumab vedotin in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Glembatumumab vedotin means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Glembatumumab vedotin out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Glembatumumab vedotin in simple terms?

Why does Glembatumumab vedotin matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Glembatumumab vedotin?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Glembatumumab vedotin.