ABSTRACT
I. INTRODUCTION The immunological group of therapeutic agents includes vaccines, suspensions of attenuated or killed microorganisms administered for the treatment or prevention of infectious disease; the immunomodulating drugs, agents having either stimulatory or suppressive activity against the immune response; and a widely diverse, generally experimental group of antisera and tissue extracts of various types. Contemporary chemicals included under the immunomodulating class are several growth and activation factors (cytokines). The genes for these proteins have been cloned and act at the molecular level in orchestrating the interplay and control of individual component cells (Diasio and LoBuglio, 1996); hence, their use as anticancer and antiviral agents (see also Chapters 11 and 18).
