ABSTRACT
The growth behavior and metastatic competence of tumor cells in contrast to their normal counterparts has been thought to be reflected by expression of specific surface molecules. It has been assumed that malignant cells could be distinguished from their benign counterparts by tumor associated antigens. Several aspects have to be considered regarding antibody-dependent tumor suppression. Occasionally anti-idiotypic reaction was measured the lack of any tumor response might have been due to the inability of the infused monoclonal antibodies (mAb) to mediate complement-dependent cytotoxicity and antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity. Acute and chronic as well as lymphatic and leukemic diseases have been treated with intravenous administration of unmodified mAb. Several autocrine growth factors have been identified in lung cancer among those the gastrin releasing peptide which has been used as a target for a murine mAb in a clinical trial. A frequently appearing obstacle in antibody therapy is human anti-mouse antibody response which might render further antibody therapy ineffective.
