Meeting report on the Ninth Conference on Cancer Therapy with Antibodies and Immunoconjugates.

This conference, held biennially for the past 12 years, provides a forum where investigators from throughout the world can gather and discuss how monoclonal antibodies can be used to improve the treatment of cancer. As in the past, this meeting focused primarily on the use of radiolabeled antibodies in cancer treatment, but this year there were many additional contributions on the use of unconjugated "naked" antibodies for the treatment of cancer, reflecting a growing understanding that antibodies not only can be used to direct isotopes and drugs to tumors but can also be effective agents in themselves. Preclinical studies using immunoconjugates prepared with toxins, drugs, or other agents were also reported to be highly effective therapeutic agents. Some of these are now showing efficacy in clinical trials. In addition, presentations focused on a variety of approaches, including pretargeting, regional delivery, and combinations with other standard treatment regimens designed to optimize antibody-targeted treatment strategies. Although the most efficacious treatments were reported in a variety of hematological malignancies, there were a number of presentations, primarily in early preclinical development, that provided evidence for potential future improvements in the treatment of solid tumors.