Potential of genetically engineered anti-ganglioside GD2 antibodies for cancer immunotheraphy

This chapter discusses the potential of genetically engineered anti-ganglioside GD2 antibodies for cancer immunotherapy. These molecular constructs could be produced by combining hybridoma methodology with recombinant DNA technology. Although it seems that most of the human anti-mouse antibody (HAMA) problems occurring with murine monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) have been solved by the development of chimeric human/murine mAbs, a number of challenges have to be met before monoclonal antibodies against tumor-associated antigens can be most effectively targeted to tumor sites, thereby making their optimal contribution to cancer therapy. Among these challenges are the many problems associated with tumor cell heterogeneity and the inability to adequately penetrate the tumor vasculature. Thus, human/mouse chimeric mAbs should be genetically engineered in such a way that they exhibit improved targeting capabilities and perform better in penetrating tumor vasculatures than currently available constructs.