Monoclonal antibodies in the diagnosis and treatment of human diseases.

Monoclonal antibodies are being used as drugs in the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of human diseases. The discipline of antibody engineering has evolved with modern cellular and molecular biology methods to meet the challenge of producing human monoclonal antibodies for in vivo biotherapy. In this overview, applications of monoclonal antibodies are presented for patients with selected diseases. Second, antibody engineering methods are overviewed from a chronological perspective for the production of therapeutic murine, human-like chimeric and CDR-grafted, and human monoclonal antibodies. Finally, safety considerations are examined for the efficacious use of monoclonal antibodies as diagnosis and therapeutic drugs.