The application of hybridoma technology to develop monoclonal antibodies to antigens or markers on cancer cells or to cancer cell products has led to a breakthrough in the possible use of these precise immune reagents as therapeutic agents for cancer. The next year or so almost certainly will see increasing clinical application of monoclonal antibodies to cancer products used either alone, combined with toxins, drugs or radionucleotides, or indirectly as amplifiers of cellular immunity or adjuvants to specific immunization to bring the previously unattainable armamentarium of the immune system to bear on cancer. The goal of this symposium will be to bring together investigators from basic science, clinicians who apply monoclonal antibodies to human cancer and industrial concerns with an interest in providing new cancer therapeutic agents. The sessions will deal primarily with applications to human disease. Appropriate animal models will be included to illustrate principles. By the time of the scheduled meeting, it is anticipated that the work now being done in a number of world class laboratories will be close to direct clinical application and that the symposium will prove critical to further development of this important field.
