ABSTRACT
The use of immune antisera to treat patients with cancer dates back to the turn of the century. There was renewed interest in antibody therapy of cancer in the 1950s when Bale and Pressman described the targeting of animal tumors by specific radiolabeled purified polyclonal antibodies. Perhaps the largest impact on the field was made by Kohler and Milstein. Who in 1975 described the production of monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs) in secreting cell lines. By the late 1970s, several publications described the clinical targeting and therapy of tumors using radiolabeled polyclonal and affinity purified antibodies. Baboon antibodies showed a very low incidence of anti-antibody response and these responses were following multiple administrations to the patients. HMoAbs have a major advantage over polyclonal, mouse monoclonal or humanized antibodies. This advantage is that the human monoclonals are truly non-immunogenic in patients. Given that a stable and nonimmunogenic radioimmunoconjugate is available fractionated radioimmunotherapy regimens should be explored based on tumor and normal organ dosimetry.
