[Immunotherapy of colorectal cancer--overview and perspectives]

The specific immunotherapy of colorectal cancer initially revealed promising results. However, a significant clinical benefit for patients has still to be proven in phase III trails. In order to compare the different clinical approaches and early phase I - II studies, there is an urgent need for the establishment and acceptance of new standardized diagnostic tools for detecting and quantifying induced and clinical relevant immune responses in patients. Whether or not subgroups with a certain genetic background, such as specific HLA alleles, reveal a better benefit from tumour vaccinations needs to be further analysed. Currently, only two specific antibodies, targeting membraneous receptors or their ligands, such as EGF or VEGF, have been approved by diverse national drug authorities. The question as to whether these antibodies also induce an antibody-dependent cellular toxicity (ADCC) is currently being analysed.