Carcinoma-associated monoclonal antibodies in head and neck carcinoma

Summary Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) 175F4 (IgG1) and 175F11 (IgG2a), originally raised against the human mammary carcinoma cell line (ZR-75-1), react with a carcinoma-associated antigen in both adenocarcinomas and squamous cell carcinomas of different origins. Immunohistochemically, the mAbs exhibited reactivity with 42 out of 43 squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck. Normal squamous epithelia were also reactive with the antibodies in the basal and suprabasal cell layer. In 175F4 F(ab)2 fragments localized a squamous cell carcinoma xenograft (HT-6) in nude mice with low blood pool activity, indicating a potential clinical usefulness for staging of squamous cell carcinomas in the head and neck.