Autologous antibodies to meningioma cell surface antigens.

Sera of 32 patients with meningioma were tested for reactivity to cell surface antigens of autologous meningioma cells with protein-A assay (PA), immune adherence assay (IA), and anti-C 3-mixed hemadsorption assay (C3-MHA). Antibodies against autologous meningioma could be detected in 6/32 patients by PA, in about half the patients by IA and in almost all patients by C3-MHA with titers ranging from 1:2 to 1:28. Only the serum reactivity detected by C3-MHA was high enough for analysis of the specificity of the reaction by absorption tests. By absorption with a panel of autologous, allogeneic and heterologous cells we were unable to demonstrate a meningioma-specific antigen. Most autologous sera detected oncofetal antigens. Serum reactivity to autologous meningioma showed no correlation to antibodies to SV-40.