Monoclonal antibodies as therapeutic agents for cancer

Targeted therapies are the focus of much research in oncology. After the development of imatinib for the treatment of chronic myeloid leukaemia, biological therapies that target tumour-associated antigens give hope for improvement of survival in many cancers. At the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) conference in 2003, data for the antibodies bevacizumb and cetuximab highlighted promising results in clinical trials, including an improvement in survival for metastatic colorectal cancer. Positive results for other antibodies in various stages of clinical development provide hope that anticancer antibodies will have an effect on clinical oncology practice in the next 10 years.