In 1997, the first monoclonal antibody for II treatment of cancer, rituximab, was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration to treat low-grade lymphoma. It was quickly adopted by clinicians to treat nearly all forms of CD20-positive B-cell malignancies. This use was supported by numerous clinical trials demonstrating its efficacy, including a clear survival advantage when rituximab was combined with cyclophosphamide, doxorubi-cin, vincristine, and prednisone (CHOP) in patients with diffuse large-cell lymphoma. Since rituximab's approval, numerous other monoclonal antibodies have been studied, including anti-CD19, anti-CD20, anti-CD22, anti-CD23, anti-CD80 and anti-HLA-DR antibodies (see figure). These antibodies have provided a few small successes to date.
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