Radiolabeled antibodies for therapy of infectious diseases

Novel approaches to treatment of infectious diseases are urgently needed. This need has resulted in renewing the interest in antibodies for therapy of infectious diseases. Radioimmunotherapy (RIT) is a cancer treatment modality, which utilizes radiolabeled monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). During the last decade we have translated RIT into the field of experimental fungal, bacterial and HIV infections. In addition, successful proof of principle experiments with radiolabeled pan-antibodies that bind to antigens shared by major pathogenic fungi were performed in vitro. The armamentarium of pan-antibodies would result in reducing the dependence on microorganism-specific antibodies and thus would speed up the development of RIT of infections. We believe that the time is ripe for deploying RIT into the clinic to combat infectious diseases.