title: Human therapeutic antibodies.
abstract: The development of genetic engineering technologies has today advanced to the point where the generation of high-affinity human antibodies against therapeutic targets is not a major hurdle. Rather, it is the selection of target molecules in, for example, cancer therapy that poses a challenge. Targets that are not merely passive acceptors but those that signal into the cell are preferred. Recent advances in the clinical use of antibody-based therapy--such as anti-CD20 (rituximab) for the treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and anti-tumour-necrosis-factor-alpha for Crohn's disease--as well as novel antibody designs and improved understanding of the mode of action of current antibodies lend great hope to the future of this therapeutic approach.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunotechnology, Lund University, Sweden. carl.borrebaeck@immun.lth.se
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Borrebaeck
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Carlsson
mesh_terms: D000906:Antibodies / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D015202:Protein Engineering; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D000906:Antibodies; D011994:Recombinant Proteins