Despite its obvious scientific appeal, immunotherapy as anapproach to cancer has yet tolive up to expectations. Initial attemptsat using cytokines to stimulate anticancerT cells, or deploying toxin-conjugatedmonoclonal antibodies as "magic bullets,"were never quite successful despite havingattracted considerable attention.
Therapeutic vaccines for cancer haveproven similarly disappointing. StevenRosenberg, a noted cancer immunologistat the National Cancer Institute, reviewedprogress to date in 2004 and concludedthat the objective clinical response ratefor roughly 1,000 patients fell below anunimpressive 4%.1 Skepticism and a lackof support has impeded research in thearea such that even a role for the immunesystem as a natural surveillance mechanismto detect and eliminate incipientcancers remains without wide acceptance,despite a large body of experimental andclinical evidence.2
Yet, as a treatment for diseases otherthan cancer, immunotherapy - definedbroadly as modulation of the immunesystem for therapeutic benefit - hasemerged as one of the most exciting,promising, and effective treatment strategiesfor chronic inflammatory disorders,diabetes, transplantation, and otherdebilitating conditions (see ...
