Monoclonal antibodies against human urinary bladder carcinomas: selectivity and utilization for gamma scintigraphy.

Mouse monoclonal antibodies to human urinary bladder carcinoma cells have been examined by indirect membrane immunofluorescence using a panel of 27 human cell lines. Two of the monoclonal antibodies, 7E9 (IgG3) and S2C6 (IgGl), were found to distinguish between urinary bladder carcinoma cells and normal urothelium. The third monoclonal antibody, T24.06.5(IgGl), discriminated among cell lines of urothelial and non-urothelial origin but did not distinguish between urinary bladder carcinoma and normal urothelial cells. None of the of the antibodies was found to be strictly selective, and occasional cross-reactions with unrelated cell types were observed. The monoclonal antibody 7E9, showing the highest degree of selectivity, was further examined by an indirect immunoperoxidase technique on frozen tissue sections from 19 patients. The antibody reacted with all (7/7) bladder carcinomas examined and gave negative results with control normal bladder mucosa (0/8) and unrelated tumor tissue (0/4) sections. The 7E9 antibody was purified by protein A affinity chromatography, labeled with 131I and used for gamma-scintigraphy in nude mice xenografted with human urinary bladder carcinoma T24. The 7E9 antibody was capable of locating the T24 xenografts in nude mice; it localized preferentially in the T24 tissue compared to normal mouse tissues. The T24 xenografts could not be detected by gamma-scintigraphy with 131I-labeled monoclonal antibody against human mammary carcinoma cells and two other control antibodies. Likewise the 131I-labeled 7E9 antibody was not capable of locating human mammary carcinoma xenografts in nude mice.