Adapted from Science 21 June 1991

Monoclonal Antibodies in Diagnosis and Therapy

Monoclonal antibodies have been applied clinically to the diagnosis and therapy of an array of human disorders, including cancer and infectious diseases, and have been used for the modulation of immune responses. Effective therapy using monoclonal antibodies has, however, been elusive. Recently, monoclonal antibody-mediated therapy has been revolutionized by advances such as the definition of cell-surface structures on abnormal cells as targets for effective monoclonal antibody action, genetic engineering to create less immunogenic and more effective monoclonal antibodies, and the arming of such antibodies with toxins or radionuclides to enhance their effector function.