A novel monoclonal antibody to cytokeratin 18 with reactivity toward lung squamous cell carcinomas and adenocarcinomas of various sites.

Antibodies to cytokeratins (CKs) have found extensive application in the differential diagnosis of epithelial tumors. The chain-specific anti-CK reagents appear to be of practical value for further subtyping of carcinomas. The authors have produced a novel anti-CK 18 monoclonal antibody (ACK-156) using a modified immunization procedure that included sequential injections of human epidermal keratin, cyclophosphamide, and enriched cytoskeletal extracts from a human lung carcinoma cell line. This protocol effectively amplified clones with reactivity toward CK epitopes not present in epidermal keratin. Monospecificity of the antibody was confirmed by immunoblot analysis using both total cell lysates and cytoskeletal extracts as antigens. Immunoperoxidase staining of adenocarcinomas from a variety of sites, including lung, was strongly positive. Squamous cell carcinomas of lung were also strongly stained whereas squamous cell carcinomas of head and neck origin were stained focally or not at all. In contrast, several commercially available anti-CK 18 monoclonal antibodies did not distinguish squamous cell carcinomas of lung from those of head and neck origin. Immunoblot analysis of tumor lysates corroborated the tissue staining results and revealed that the commercially available antibodies that were tested recognize at least one other low molecular weight peptide in addition to the CK 18 peptide recognized by ACK-156.