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Preface: antibody therapies for cancer

Oncogene volume 26, pages 3592–3593 (2007)Cite this article

It took over a century to validate what Behring (1890) and Ehrlich (1900) have reasoned and predicted the application of antibody-mediated therapies against infectious diseases and cancer. Then, Porter (1967) and Edelman et al. (1968) reported the structure of the immunoglobulin and Kohler and Milstein (1975) described the production of hybridoma cell lines capable of producing monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). This technique began to enter clinical trials. Nadler et al. (1980) treated a patient with relapsed lymphoma with an mAb and was found to be safe and well-tolerated. Subsequent studies failed treatment with this antibody and yielded only short-lived responses (Ritz and Schlossman, 1982). Miller et al. (1982) reported a patient with B-cell lymphoma achieving a complete response after treatment with murine anti-idiotypic antibodies. Further research with generic murine antibodies failed to produce desirable remissions. During the next 15 years, the search for the right target and overcoming previously encountered obstacles began to be accomplished. mAbs have established themselves as one of the most important and fastest growing classes of therapeutic drugs (over 20 approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)) in the treatment of non-malignant and malignant diseases (see reviews by Stern and Herrmann, 2005; Booy et al., 2006). This issue of Oncogene brings together reviews of many of the FDA approved mAbs for cancer, and also reviews on novel mAb-mediated strategies for cancer.

The first review describes the application of anti-idiotypic antibodies and vaccines in the treatment of B-lymphoma by Lopez-Diaz de Cerio and co-workers. The authors discuss the potential therapeutic application of anti-idiotypic antibodies that mimic idiotype-mediated tumor-associated antigens. Coiffier reviews the first approved antibody, rituximab, anti-CD20, for the treatment of B-cell lymphoma and its high-efficacy when used in combination with chemotherapy. Davies reviews the radiolabeled anti-CD20 mAbs 90Y-ibritumomab and 131I-tositumomab, given as Zevalin and Bexxar, respectively. Both of these antibodies demonstrate high-response rates and durability of remission in the rate of refractory disease setting. Although the postulated mechanisms of rituximab activity in vivo include ADCC, CDC and apoptosis, Bonavida reviews the molecular cell triggering by rituximab resulting in the inhibition of several intracellular survival antiapoptotic signaling pathways and leading to the chemo and immunosensitization of resistant B-NHL cell lines. Also, he discusses the development of rituximab resistance with postulated means to reverse resistance.

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Acknowledgements

I thank the excellent assistance in the preparation and administration of the contents of this review by Maggie Yang. Her valuable assistance is greatly appreciated.

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  1. Department of Microbiology, Immunology & Molecular Genetics, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, University of California at Los Angeles, CA, USA

    B Bonavida

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Bonavida, B. Preface: antibody therapies for cancer. Oncogene 26, 3592–3593 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.onc.1210369

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