Panitumumab, sold under the brand name Vectibix, is a humanized monoclonal antibody against the epidermal growth factor receptor (also known as EGF receptor, EGFR, ErbB-1 or HER1 in human).
EGFR is a transmembrane glycoprotein that belongs to the subfamily of type I receptor tyrosine kinases. Although EGFR is expressed in normal cells, the overexpression of EGFR is detected in many human cancers, including those of the colon and rectum. Interaction of EGFR with its normal ligands causes phosphorylation and activation of a series of intracellular proteins that in turn regulate the transcription of genes involved with cellular growth and survival, motility, and proliferation. Panitumumab binds specifically to EGFR on both normal and tumor cells, and competitively inhibits the binding of ligands for EGFR. The binding of panitumumab to the EGFR prevents ligand-induced receptor autophosphorylation and activation of receptor-associated kinases, resulting in inhibition of cell growth, induction of apoptosis, decreased pro-inflammatory cytokine and vascular growth factor production, and internalization of the EGFR.
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