Biological Therapy of Cancer--fifth symposium. From basic research to clinical application. 27-30 October 1999, Munich, Germany.
This meeting highlighted the exciting progress being made in biological therapies for cancer. There are now antibodies licensed for therapy, with cytokines available for therapy and growth factors in routine use. Understanding the immune system and tumor biology, are vital components of developing novel therapies. Cell-mediated immunity is clearly important, not only for vaccine therapies and dendritic cell approaches, but also for antibody therapies. The main areas of biological therapy covered by the meeting were tumor immunology, vaccine therapy, dendritic cell approaches, gene therapy and antibody therapies. Many of these biological therapies have now entered phase I trials and appear to be well tolerated with minimal side effects. Trial design must be modified, as with these therapies standard phase I objectives of establishing the maximum tolerated dose (MTD), assessing toxicity and pharmacokinetics must be combined with biological 'end-points', such as measurement of immune activation or downstream effects. As these agents enter phase II efficacy trials, their role will become further established. They may provide new alternatives for therapy either alone or in combination with current chemotherapeutic agents.
Francis
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Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine, University of London, Department of Clinical Oncology, Rowland Hill Street, London , NW3 2PF, UK. r.francis@rfhsm.ac.uk
Chao
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