Use of SM-1 monoclonal antibody and human complement in selective killing of small cell carcinoma of the lung.

SM-1 is a murine monoclonal antibody strongly reactive with a cell membrane antigen of small cell carcinoma (SCC) of the lung but unreactive with the membrane of most other carcinomas and normal tissues including normal bone marrow. We have found that in the presence of human complement, SM-1 antibody is highly cytotoxic to SCC cells. Using three treatments with antibody and complement, more than 99% of SCC cells in culture were lysed, as determined by the chromium release and clonogenic assays. Similar efficiency of SCC cell lysis was observed when one SM-1 antibody treatment was followed by three treatments with human complement. In contrast, there was little antibody-dependent lysis of non-small cell lung cancer cells, other carcinomas, and leukemia cell lines. The amount of chromium released from normal bone marrow cells treated with SM-1 antibody and complement was minimal and was mainly due to the effect of complement alone. Clonogenic assays, including colony-forming unit-granulocytic/monocytic, erythroid burst-forming unit, and colony-forming unit-granulocytic/erythroid/monocytic/megakaryocytic, also showed no significant SM-1 antibody-dependent cytotoxicity on normal bone marrow precursors. Since SM-1 antibody is selectively cytotoxic to SCC cells in the presence of human complement, it is a potentially useful agent for the selective eradication of tumor cell contamination in marrows of patients with metastatic small cell lung cancer and possibly for in vivo serotherapy.