Ab therapy of AML: native anti-CD33 Ab and drug conjugates

MAb have become an important treatment modality in cancer therapy. Genetically engineered chimeric and humanized Ab have demonstrated activity against a variety of tumors. While the humanized anti-CD33 MAb lintuzumab has only modest single-agent activity against overt AML, it can eliminate minimal residual disease detectable by reverse transcription-PCR in acute promyelocytic leukemia. Targeted chemotherapy with the anti-CD33–calicheamicin construct gemtuzumab ozogamicin has produced remissions in patients with relapsed AML and appears promising when used in combination with standard chemotherapy in the treatment of newly diagnosed AML.