Monoclonal antibody-directed cytotoxic therapy - Potential in malignant diseases of aging

The advent of monoclonal antibodies has allowed the development of tumour d irected therapies utilising antibody-dependent effector mechanisms and immu noconjugates (e.g. drug, isotope and toxin coupled antibodies) against huma n malignancies. Preclinical studies in mouse tumour models have been most i mpressive and have led to numerous clinical trials. Whereas the majority of these phase I/II trials have been less impressive, a few trials have shown efficacy in highly pre-treated refractory patients and have led to phase I II trials. The therapeutic monoclonal antibodies examined in these trials w ill become clinically available in the near future. In this review, various methods of utilising antibody-directed anticancer s trategies are presented, with emphasis on recent advances in the field. The advantages and disadvantages of these methods together with the role of an tibody-directed therapeutics in cancer management are discussed.