ABSTRACT
Monoclonal antibody therapy is a type of immunotherapy and is referred to as passive immunotherapy as the antibodies are not produced by the body’s own immune system. Monoclonal antibodies have high specificity and are directed against a single antigen. This chapter reviews the status of targeted monoclonal antibody therapy in use or development for the treatment of children and adults with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), with the exception of radiolabeled antibodies. AML is a heterogeneous group of diseases and basically comprises all other than lymphocyte-precursor derived acute leukemias. Antibody-based therapies for AML have, therefore, focused on CD33 as a suitable target antigen. Gemtuzumab ozogamicin is an attractive drug for palliative treatment in AML, given the lack of severe mucositis and alopecia and the possibility to administer it in outpatient basis in most patients.
