Monoclonal antibodies have a very important and wide-ranging role in many areas of biomedical research and this volume is amongst the very first to combine technical and clinical aspects of the subject. Monoclonal antibodies provide highly specific reagents with which to identify, analyse, quantitate and manipulate molecules - both in solution and in solid phase, such as at a cell surface. The aim of this book is therefore to provide a unique combination of the production (by both cellular and molecular biology techniques), structure and functional characteristics of monoclonal antibodies, together with detailed discussions of the various analytic, diagnostic and therapeutic applications of these antibodies in many areas of clinical medicine, including histopathology, oncology, transplantation, infectious diseases, rheumatology, haematology and dermatology.
