Immunotherapy throughout the decades: from Noon to now.
OBJECTIVE
To review major milestones in the development of subcutaneous allergen immunotherapy in 20-year segments.


METHODS
Review of the literature available in textbooks and journals.


METHODS
Articles and books addressing major achievements in the development of subcutaneous allergy immunotherapy were selected for inclusion in this review.


RESULTS
Immunotherapy administration has improved the lives of possibly millions of patients with hay fever. Asthmatic symptoms have been relieved if not ablated in millions as well. Insect venom hypersensitivity became treatable and highly effective. In the beginning years of immunotherapy, it was clear that immunotherapy worked; in the later years, the mechanisms for this efficacy were discovered. In this case, the therapy preceded its validation. Methods, materials, and safety have vastly improved. Postulated mechanisms explain much but not everything.


CONCLUSIONS
There is still research to be accomplished, improvements to be made, and, of course, patients to be made well.
Department of Allergy, St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital, New York, New York 10022, USA. drfinegold@AOL.com
Ira
I
Finegold
Robert J
RJ
Dockhorn
Daniel
D
Ein
William K
WK
Dolen
John
J
Oppenheimer
Lawrence H
LH
Potter
D000485:Allergens / Q000276:immunology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000818:Animals; D001180:Arthropod Venoms / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000276:immunology; D003888:Desensitization, Immunologic / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D007279:Injections, Subcutaneous; D007299:Insect Bites and Stings / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology; D007313:Insecta; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D012130:Respiratory Hypersensitivity / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology
D000485:Allergens; D001180:Arthropod Venoms