Antibody-mediated targeting in the treatment and diagnosis of cancer: an overview.

Enhancing the discrimination between tumour and host has been an underlying goal of efforts to improve the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Over the past 15 years considerable interest has focussed upon targeting systems designed to permit selective delivery of a variety of agents, including drugs, radioisotopes and toxins, to tumours, for both diagnosis and therapy. A vast body of information has accumulated on this subject, and considerable emphasis has been placed on the use of antibodies as carriers, as at present they offer the greatest clinical potential. Many targeting systems have been evaluated in vitro and in pre-clinical models, but few, with the exception of antibody-radioisotope conjugates, have been evaluated in patients. However, systematic evaluation of the therapeutic potential of immunoconjugates in the clinic is planned or already under way. While reviews of some individual aspects of antibody targeting do exist, there are none that encompass this entire field. Our objective is to fill this gap with a concise overview of antibody-mediated targeting for diagnostic and therapeutic applications.