Biological therapy of ovarian cancer: current directions.

Despite recent advances in the chemotherapy of ovarian cancer, the development of alternative therapies that retain activity against drug-resistant tumors remains a high priority. Our knowledge regarding growth factors, cytokines, and the immune response continues to expand, and molecular biology has provided an increased diversity of reagents for clinical evaluation. This review focuses on regulatory targets in ovarian cancer, including Her2/neu (c-erbB2) and other growth factor receptors; interferons, interleukins, and other immunoregulatory cytokines; cellular adhesion molecules; antigen-specific T lymphocytes and adoptive immunotherapy; choice of monoclonal antibody reagents and advances in antibody engineering, including recombinant single-chain binding sites, chimeric proteins, radioconjugates, cytotoxic drug conjugates, immunotoxins, and bispecific antibodies. Although specific roles for biologic therapy in the management of ovarian cancer have yet to be defined, current priorities for clinical research are reviewed.