Soon after the first description of monoclonal antibodies in 1976, there was enormous interest in the clinical application of antibodies, especially in the context of cancer. Antibodies appeared to offer the magic bullet that would allow the specific destruction of neoplastic cells. H- ever, many years' effort resulted in very few cases of successful immu- therapy with antibodies. As a result there was a major backlash against antibody therapy, and the field lost a considerable amount of popularity. Fashion, in science as well as in other things, tends to be cyclical. Antibody-based therapy is once again attracting scientists and clinicians. There are several reasons for the renewed optimism; certainly the expe- ence of the last two decades has provided a wealth of information about problems associated with antibody therapy, and possible solutions to these problems. Recombinant antibody engineering has rejuvenated the field, allowing both the modification of antibodies to improve their in vivo pr- erties and the isolation of novel antibody molecules by such techniques as phage display. The results of recent clinical trials have demonstrated unequivocally the benefit of antibody therapy in a number of settings, and, finally, more careful consideration has been taken of the types of disease best treated using this approach.

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Inhalt
The Antibody Molecule.- Polyclonal and Monoclonal Antibodies.- Engineering Antibody Molecules.- Phage Display Technology.- Antibodies in Medicine.- Prospects for the Application of Antibodies in Medicine.- Antibodies for Neoplastic Disease.- The Application of Monoclonal Antibodies in the Treatment of Lymphoma.- Antibodies for Inflammatory Disease.- Antibodies for Inflammatory Disease.- Antibodies for Transplantation.- Antibody-Based Therapies in Infectious Diseases.- Antibodies in Nuclear Medicine.- Animal Models for Tumor Localization.- Antibodies for Immunoassays.- Ethics and Industry.- Intellectual Property.- From Laboratory to Clinic.- Production and Purification.- Production of Monoclonal Antibodies.- Purification of Monoclonal Antibodies Using Protein A/G.- Preparation of Monoclonal Antibodies Using Ion Exchange Chromatography.- Quality Control of Raw Materials.- Cell Banks and Stability of Antibody Production.- Measurement of Endotoxin.- Aseptic Vial Filling.- Measurement of Antibody Concentrations by Hemagglutination.- Modification of Antibodies.- Enzymatic Digestion of Monoclonal Antibodies.- How to Make Bispecific Antibodies.- Radiolabeling of Monoclonal Antibodies.- Determination of the Immunoreactivity of Radiolabeled Monoclonal Antibodies.- Use of Biosensors to Measure the Kinetics of Antibody-Antigen Interactions.- Application of Antibodies in Vitro.- How to Set Up an ELISA.- Measurement of HAMA and Anti-Idiotypic Antibodies.- SDS-PAGE and Western Blotting.- Flow Cytometric Analysis.- Immunocytochemistry.- Immunolabeling for Electron Microscopy.- Antibody Engineering.- PCR of the V Region.- Phage Display Technology.