Résumé
PURPOSE: Cancer of the uterine cervix remains the leading cause of cancer death in Korean women. Conventional examinations still have limitations with regards to sensitivity and specificity in diagnosis and to monitoring of the disease. Thus, an additional specific tumor marker is needed for early detection of recunence of uterine cervical carcinoma and for estimation of prognosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Monoclonal antibodies against human cervical carcinoma were generated using hybridoma technology. These tnurine monoclonal antibodies were produced by fusion of spleen cells obtained from mice immunized with CUMC-6, a human cell line of squamous cell carcinoma derived from uterine cervix, and P3-X63-Ag8 mouse myeloma cells. RESULTS: We obtained 415 hybridomas secreting specific monoclonal antibodies to cervical carcinoma antigen continuously. Among them, one hybridoma designated CCS that was highly reactive with cervical carcinoma was selected and examined on. the staining pattern and the reactivity with antigenic detenninants of cervical carcinoma. Immunohistochemical staining revealed that CCS monoclonal antibody reacted with all of the seven cervical carcinoma tissues, but also reacted with one of the ten (10%) normal cervical tissues. Westem blot analysis showed that CC5 monoclonal antibody detected single 19.5-kDa protein band in cervical cancer patient's sera. The detection rate was 88% (7/8). However, the antibody did not show any reactivity to 15 sera of normal healthy women tested. Sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoretic (SDS-PAGE) analysis of CCS monoclonal antibody immunoprecipitates of extracts of L-[S] methionine-labeled human cer vical carcinoma cells showed a major band in apparent molecular weight of 51,000 daltons. The isotype and subclass of CC5 monoclonal antibody was IgG2b in hemagglutination assay. CONCLUSIONS: We have developed a new monoclonal antibody, CC5, against squamous cell carcinoma of the human uterine cervix. Further investigation is needed to establish this monoclonal antibody as an immunodiagnostic devise for cervical cancer.