Antibody Therapy

This practical manual, written by well-known experts, reviews current indications for the use of IgG concentrates and some other modern immunomodulators and provides fundamental information on present-day immunomodulation in patients (and mice). The book opens by tracing the transition from IgG substitution to IgG immunomodulation and providing expert updates on immunomodulatory indications in autoimmune and inflammatory disorders, including hematologic, neurologic, dermatologic, and other diseases. Basic aspects of IgG concentrates, including methods of production, safety, currently available products, and mechanisms of action, are then discussed. An entire chapter is devoted to the different aspects of immunomodulatory IgG treatment in the bleeding disorder immune thrombocytopenia (ITP). Finally, the transition from polyclonal to monoclonal antibody (mAb) treatment is addressed in detail, covering mAb development, methods, mechanisms of action, adverse effects, and more. Particular attention is paid to the example of anti-CD20 (B-cell) antibody.

Paul (August) Imbach is a highly respected pediatric oncologist-hematologist who has developed worldwide clinical research on the indications for intravenous immunoglobulin. Dr. Imbach graduated in Medicine in 1972. He went on to structure the Swiss Pediatric Oncology Group (SPOG) and in 1978 performed the first autologous stem cell transplantation in Switzerland. He discovered the immunomodulatory effects of human immunoglobulin G concentrate (IVIG) in childhood immune thrombocytopenia (as reported in Lancet in 1981). In 1990, Dr. Imbach began working at the University Children's Hospital Basel, where he started stem cell transplantation in children and was appointed Head of Pediatric Oncology-Hematology. He was subsequently elected as full professor and also as Dean of Education introducing a thorough curriculum reform of the medical faculty at the University of Basel. In parallel to his other activities, he co-founded the International Cooperative ITP Study ICIS group, which now has more than 90 centers worldwide. He has served as president of medical societies and foundations, is a member of various medical editorial boards, and has published over 300 peer-reviewed articles as well as the textbook Pediatric Oncology - A Comprehensive Guide (3rd edition 2014) in German and English. In 2015 he was awarded the Guido Fanconi Prize, the highest award of the Swiss Society of Pediatrics.