Radioimmunotherapy: Principles, current trends and future directions.
Radioimmunotherapy has recently been introduced as a therapeutic modality for B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved (February, 2002) 90Y-ibritumomab tiuxetan (Zevalin; IDEC Pharmaceuticals Corp., San Diego CA) and the FDA's Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee has voted (December, 2002) in favor of 131I-tositumomab (Bexxar; Corixa Corp., Seattle WA), for use in radioimmunotherapy. It is anticipated that once various technical compliance issues are fulfilled Zevalin will be approved for use in Europe, where it will be marketed and distributed by Schering AG (Berlin, Germany). Similarly, approval for Bexxar is anticipated in Europe and it will be marketed by Amersham PLC (London, UK). The aim of this review is to discuss the principles of radioimmunotherapy. The scientific advances that have lead to the acceptance of radioimmunotherapy as a therapeutic modality in cancer are highlighted. Various limitations of radioimmunotherapy particularly for the treatment of solid tumors are considered and future directions for this treatment modality are examined.
Karagiannis
Tom C
TC
Trescowthick Research Laboratories, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Australia. t.karagiannis@pmci.unimelb.edu.au.