-mab
Pronunciation
- IPA: /mæb/
Origin
Usage notes
USAN guidelines for non-proprietary names of monoclonal antibodies are as follows:
an arbitrary prefix to create a unique name (officially monosyllabic)
a suffix for the disease state
a suffix for the animal source
-mab to identify it as a monoclonal antibody (MAb)
The source suffixes are as follows:
-a- for rat-derived,
-e- for hamster,
-i- for primate,
-o- for mouse,
-u- for human,
-xi- for chimeric,
-zu- for humanized,
-xizu- for humanize and chimeric,
-axo- for rat-mouse hybrid.
The disease target suffixes are:
-vir- viral,
-bac- bacterial,
-lim- immune system, immunomodulator,
-les- infectious lesions,
-cir- cardiovascular
-col- colon tumor,
-mel- melanoma,
-mar- mammary tumor,
-got- testicular (gonad) tumor,
-gov- ovarian (gonad) tumor,
-pro- prostate tumor,
-tum- other tumors, or combinations of the above
-ner- nervous system,
-os- bone,
-toxa- toxin,
-fung- fungus
Other attested target affixes are -anibi- and -neur-. The target affix takes the primary stress.
For instance, capromab is a murine MAb that targets prostate cancer; imiciromab pentatate is used to target myocardial infarctions; satumomab pendetide is used for both colorectal and ovarian cancers.
For humanized (-zu-) and chimeric (-xi-) MAbs (and -xizu-), the final consonant of the target suffix is dropped, and for all others the o of -pro- and the a of -toxa- is dropped: natalizumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody used in the treatment of multiple sclerosis (an immunological disease).
Derived terms
Related terms
- -ab
- -nib for tyrosine kinase inhibitors
- -pab for polyclonal antibodies