MONOCLONAL-ANTIBODIES USED IN THE DETECTION AND TREATMENT OF EPITHELIAL OVARIAN-CANCER

Conventional therapy for epithelial ovarian cancer, including aggressi ve cytoreductive surgery followed by combination chemotherapy regimens , has failed to reduce the number of deaths caused by this disease, wh ich remains the most lethal of gynecologic malignancies. Monoclonal an tibodies, which offer the promise of high selectivity for detection an d therapy, may be targeted to tumor-associated antigens, growth factor s, receptors, or oncogenes. They may be used alone as immunotherapeuti c agents or conjugated to chemotherapeutic drugs, toxins, or radionucl ides. Radioimmunoconjugates may also be used for preoperative or intra operative tumor localization, The authors focused on the clinical util ity, technical limitations, and potential of monoclonal antibodies in the detection and treatment of epithelial ovarian cancer with emphasis on radioimmunodetection and radioimmunotherapy.