# Mogamulizumab

Source: https://onco.cc/drugs/mogamulizumab/  
OnCo record `mogamulizumab` (Treatment). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Mogamulizumab is an antibody that clears cancerous T cells from the blood in mycosis fungoides and Sézary syndrome, the leukaemic form of skin lymphoma.

## Summary

MAVORIC (2018): PFS 7.7 vs 3.1 months versus vorinostat, with the best responses in blood compartment and Sézary syndrome. Approved in Japan (2012) for ATLL and CCR4+ PTCL/CTCL; US/EU 2018 for MF/SS after one systemic therapy. Rash (mogamulizumab-associated rash) and increased GVHD risk after subsequent allogeneic transplant.

## Fields

- Kind: Treatment
- Status: approved
- Last checked: 2026-09-08
- Tags: gap-fill
- Brand: Poteligeo
- Modality: Defucosylated anti-CCR4 monoclonal antibody
- Mechanism: Binds CCR4 on malignant T cells (and regulatory T cells) and kills them through enhanced ADCC from the afucosylated Fc.
- Approvals: JP 2012: Relapsed CCR4+ adult T-cell leukaemia/lymphoma; later PTCL/CTCL; US 2018: Relapsed/refractory mycosis fungoides or Sézary syndrome after ≥1 systemic therapy; EU 2018: MF/SS after ≥1 systemic therapy

## Notes

- Lymphoma biology: CCR4 is on the tumour in more than 80% of mycosis fungoides and Sezary syndrome and about 90% of adult T-cell leukaemia/lymphoma, and it is also on regulatory T cells, so the antibody depletes those too. That explains both the rash and the association between giving it shortly before an allogeneic transplant and severe graft-versus-host disease. MAVORIC randomised 372 previously treated patients to mogamulizumab or vorinostat (Kim 2018). In adult T-cell leukaemia/lymphoma, CCR4 is not only expressed but mutated, with gain-of-function truncations of the cytoplasmic tail in about a quarter of cases (Kataoka 2015).

## Sources

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mogamulizumab
- MAVORIC (Lancet Oncol 2018): https://doi.org/10.1016/S1470-2045(18)30379-6
- Label (DailyMed): https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/search.cfm?labeltype=all&query=mogamulizumab
- Kim et al., Lancet Oncol 2018: MAVORIC, mogamulizumab against vorinostat in previously treated cutaneous T-cell lymphoma: https://doi.org/10.1016/S1470-2045(18)30379-6
- Kataoka et al., Nat Genet 2015: integrated molecular analysis of 426 adult T-cell leukaemia/lymphoma cases: https://doi.org/10.1038/ng.3415

## Connected records

- cancers: [Adult T-cell leukaemia/lymphoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/adult-t-cell-leukaemia-lymphoma/), [Cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (mycosis fungoides and Sezary syndrome)](https://onco.cc/cancers/cutaneous-t-cell-lymphoma/), [Mycosis fungoides](https://onco.cc/cancers/mycosis-fungoides/), [Peripheral T-cell lymphomas (including cutaneous T-cell lymphoma)](https://onco.cc/cancers/peripheral-t-cell-lymphoma/), [Sezary syndrome](https://onco.cc/cancers/sezary-syndrome/)
- technologies: [Monoclonal antibodies](https://onco.cc/technologies/monoclonal-antibody/)
- targets: [CCR4](https://onco.cc/targets/ccr4/)
- companies: [Kyowa Kirin](https://onco.cc/companies/kyowa-kirin/)
- terms: [ADCC (antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity)](https://onco.cc/terms/adcc/), [Fc engineering / effector function](https://onco.cc/terms/fc-effector/), [What the NHS in England funds for lymphoma, appraisal by appraisal](https://onco.cc/terms/lymphoma-tx-uk-access/)
- key papers: [MAVORIC: mogamulizumab versus vorinostat in previously treated cutaneous T-cell lymphoma](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-mavoric-mogamulizumab-lancet-oncol-2018/)
- trials: [Extracorporeal Photopheresis and Mogamulizumab for the Treatment of Erythrodermic Cutaneous T Cell Lymphoma](https://onco.cc/trials/nct04930653/), [MAVORIC](https://onco.cc/trials/mavoric/)

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