Human monoclonal antibodies and engineered antibodies in the management of cancer.

In an attempt to obtain more specific and less immunogenic monoclonals for cancer therapy considerable effort has been devoted to the development of human monoclonals. Although this has resulted in the generation of many antibody secreting cell lines they rarely produce useful levels of specific antitumour antibodies. An alternative approach is the humanisation of rodent antitumour monoclonals using genetic engineering techniques. The chimaeric antibodies produced may exhibit reduced immunogenicity and improved Fc mediated interactions. Finally a number of procedures have also been employed to generate so-call bispecific monoclonal antibodies which offer novel therapeutic possibilities.