Human antibodies to ovarian cancer antigens secreted by lymphoblastoid cell lines.

Human antibodies, showing specificity for ovarian cancer, have been produced following Epstein-Barr virus transformation of lymphocytes from involved lymph nodes. Specificity was assessed initially using established ovarian cancer and other cell lines and then confirmed by histological examination, employing immunofluorescent staining of tumour tissue. The lymphocytes have been in continuous culture for more than 9 months and secrete IgG antibodies at a rate of 0.5-5 micrograms/ml/10(6) cells/5 days.