Human immunological response to mouse monoclonal antibodies in the treatment or diagnosis of malignant diseases.

An overview of the literature is presented concerning the formation, detection, incidence and effect of the human immunoglobulin response on immunoscintigraphy. The following conclusions are drawn. The production of human anti-mouse antibodies (HAMAs) is associated with a diminished therapeutic response; adequate prevention of HAMA production is not yet possible; high HAMA titres give rise to rapid clearance of MoAb into the liver and marked reduction of tumour uptake which results in reduced image quality on immunoscintigraphy; alteration of antibody biodistribution is likely to be related to the in vivo formation of antibody-antibody complexes which could interfere with image quality when sequential imaging is carried out.