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Biologic Agents

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Current Cancer Therapeutics

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Abstract

Biologic therapy uses so-called biologic reagents, ie, those agents that evoke immune responses, to directly target receptor or signaling pathways, or modify the stroma of the tumor (endothelins, fibroblasts, or macrophages) to elicit tumor regression. The biotherapeutic pharmacopoeia includes recombinant cytokines, some of which possess profound immunomodulatory and antitumor activity, including interleukin-2 (aldesleukin) and interferon-α (IFN-α). Additional cytokines that have been evaluated include tumor necrosis factor-α, interferon-γ, M-CSF, IL-1, IL-4, and IL-12, none of which have been approved for cancer therapy as yet in the United States. Other recombinant proteins, termed colony-stimulating factors (CSF), exert profound effects on hematopoiesis and immune function. They include erythropoietin (epoietin-α), granulocyte-CSF (filgrastim), and granulocyte, macrophage-CSF (sargramostim). Although they do not have direct antitumor activity, these recombinant proteins blunt chemotherapy-induced myelopoietic toxicity, and have become useful adjuvants to bone marrow transplantation and aggressive chemotherapeutic regimens.

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Authors
  1. Ulrich Keilholz
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  2. Michael T. Lotze
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Keilholz, U., Lotze, M.T. (2001). Biologic Agents. In: Current Cancer Therapeutics. Current Medicine Group, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-1099-0_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-1099-0_3

  • Publisher Name: Current Medicine Group, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-57340-176-0

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