A monoclonal antiidiotypic antibody ACA 125 mimicking the tumor-associated antigen CA 125 for immunotherapy of ovarian cancer.

A new concept of oncological immunotherapy comprises the attempt to trigger the immune system of the host into a response against tumor cells. Antiidiotypic antibodies bearing the internal image of an antigen expressed on the surface of the tumor seem to be most suited for this purpose. We have generated a murine antiidiotypic antibody (ACA 125) functionally imitating the tumor-associated antigen CA 125, which can be detected in about 80% of ovarian carcinomas. The hybridoma cell was adapted to serum-free medium and antibody was produced in a hollow fiber cell culture system (Technomouse). ACA 125 (Ab2) shows high affinity for the paratope of Ab1 (affinity constant: 2.3 x 10(9) liters/mol) and binding of Ab2 to Ab1 is completely inhibited by the nominal antigen. Application of F(ab')2 fragments of ACA 125 to rats lead to an anti-CA 125 immunity by production of IgG and IgM antiantiidiotypic antibodies (Ab3) that bind to both ACA 125 and CA 125. Furthermore the induction of a non-MHC-restricted cell-mediated cytotoxicity for human ovarian adenocarcinoma cell line NIH-OVCAR3 (expressing CA 125 on its surface) could be proved; additionally complement-dependent cytotoxicity (CDC) as well as an antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) was observed. Thus, monoclonal antiidiotypic antibody ACA 125 fulfills recent criteria for an antibody, which might be successful in immunotherapy using the anti-idiotypic network approach.