An overview of the diagnostic and therapeutic use of monoclonal antibodies in medicine

Monoclonal antibodies, which include murine, chimeric, humanised and fully human antibodies, bind to their target receptors with high affinity and specificity. In the last two decades several different monoclonal antibodies have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for therapeutic purposes, and some of these and others have also been radiolabelled for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. This field is in continuous evolution and this overview highlights the role of radiolabelled antibodies in research and clinical setting.