New solid tumor targets for therapeutic monoclonal antibodies.

Monoclonal antibodies are a rapidly growing class of drugs used for therapy of human cancers and other diseases. They can be used effectively to target tumor-specific molecules and thereby modulate key signaling pathways that play a role in tumor growth, survival and metastasis. Clinical success of novel antibodies has stimulated great interest in the promise of antibody therapeutics for cancer. In this editorial, the author describes three key characteristics that define an ideal target antigen for a therapeutic antibody.