Immunotoxins: a clinical review of their use in the treatment of malignancies.

Immunotoxins are a new class of antitumor agents consisting of tumor-selective ligands (generally monoclonal antibodies [MoAbs]) linked to highly toxic protein molecules that have been modified to remove their normal tissue-binding domains. These immuno-conjugates combine the potency of the parent toxin with the specificity of the attached ligand. Toxins used in the construction of immunotoxins belong to a group of peptides that catalytically...