Recognition of galactosylgloboside by monoclonal antibodies derived from patients with primary lung cancer.

Lymph node lymphocytes from patients with primary lung cancer were immortalized with Epstein-Barr virus, and culture supernatants were screened for cell-surface reactivity against allogeneic cancer cell lines. The percentage of wells containing detectable antibodies in initial screening ranged from 1 to 17%, but the vast majority of the cultures lost antibody activity on subsequent expansion. Two antibody-secreting clones, J309 and D579, derived from separate individuals and reactive with anaplastic lung cancer cell lines, were successfully expanded and fused with the NS-1 mouse myeloma cell line. The antibodies produced by these clones exhibited identical restricted serologic reactivity against cultured cell lines and detected a carbohydrate antigen present in the neutral glycolipid fraction of MCF-7 breast cancer cells. Serologic, immunochemical, and chemical analyses revealed that the antigen recognized by antibodies J309 and D579 is galactosylgloboside [Gal(beta 1----3)GalNAc(beta 1----3)Gal(alpha 1----4)Gal(beta 1----4)- GlcCer]. Conclusions regarding the significance of these findings with respect to the biology of lung cancer await further information concerning the distribution of galactosylgloboside in normal and malignant tissues and the frequency of antibodies to this structure in normal and tumor-bearing individuals.