Monoclonal antibody therapy of human gliomas: Current status and future approaches

The development of immunotherapeutic protocols for the treatment of human C NS neoplasia over the past two decades has been impressive. Several crucial aspects have been defined, characterized, and in many cases, optimized (Wi kstrand CJ, Zalutsky MR, Bigner DD: In: Liau LM, Bigner DD (eds) Brain Tumo r Immunotherapy. Humana Press (in press), 2000). Specific Mabs or construct s reacting with targetable antigens are currently available and in clinical trial. In addition, additional antigens currently under study (angiogenesi s-related markers, developmentally associated antigens for medulloblastoma such as L1, and the identification of new targets by SAGE, just in its infa ncy, will provide a veritable library of available targets for therapy. The molecular engineering and affinity maturation techniques being applied to Mab fragment optimization have already been rapidly effective in generating a variety of Mab constructs of appropriate affinity for clinical trial; as new targets are defined, and experience is accrued with the various constr ucts currently and prospectively available, the optimal targeting of a mult itude of antigens will be possible.