# Monoclonal

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

## TL;DR

Made from a single clone of cells, so every antibody molecule in the vial is identical and binds exactly the same spot. All therapeutic antibodies are monoclonal.

## Summary

The immune system normally produces a mixture of antibodies against a target (polyclonal); the 1975 hybridoma technique of Köhler and Milstein made it possible to immortalise a single antibody-producing cell and harvest one uniform antibody from it. Early monoclonals were mouse proteins that the human body rejected; successive generations were chimeric (-ximab), humanised (-zumab) and fully human (-umab), and are now produced in cultured mammalian cells at ton scale. The word also describes tumours themselves: cancers are clonal, descending from a single cell, though they diversify into subclones over time.

## Fields

- Kind: Term
- Last checked: 2026-09-09
- Also known as: monoclonal antibody; monoclonal antibodies; mAb; mAbs; monoclonals

## Sources

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monoclonal_antibody
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monoclonal_antibody

## Connected records

- terms: [Antibody](https://onco.cc/terms/antibody/), [Antigen](https://onco.cc/terms/antigen/), [B cell](https://onco.cc/terms/b-cell/), [Cell line](https://onco.cc/terms/cell-line/), [Small molecule drug](https://onco.cc/terms/small-molecule/)
- technologies: [Monoclonal antibodies](https://onco.cc/technologies/monoclonal-antibody/)

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JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/monoclonal.json