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Two novel monoclonal antibodies, KL-3 (IgM) and KL-6 (IgG1), which can detect soluble antigens in sera and effusions (molecular weights greater than 1,000 K) were produced against human pulmonary adenocarcinoma VMRC-LCR cells. KL-3 and KL-6 antibodies reacted with asialo- and sialo-carbohydrate antigenic determinants, respectively. Both carbohydrate epitopes appear, from competitive inhibition studies, to be different from Lex, Ley, sialyl Lea and sialyl Lexi which were recognized with FH2, AH6, NS19-9 and FH6 antibodies, respectively. Using an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay, elevated KL-6 antigen levels were frequently observed in the sera of patients with lung adenocarcinoma 52% (17/33), pancreatic cancer 44% (4/9) and breast cancer 40% (8/20), but infrequently in the sera of patients with lung squamous cell carcinoma 18% (4/22), lung small cell carcinoma 8% (1/13), gastric cancer 0% (0/19), colorectal cancer 0% (0/8) and hepatocellular cancer 13% (1/8). The levels and positive rates of serum KL-6 antigen increased with the progression of clinical stage of lung adenocarcinoma. In pleural effusions, the prevalences of lung adenocarcinoma cases with elevated levels of KL-3 and KL-6 antigens were 76% (13/17) and 82% (14/17), respectively. These monoclonal antibodies can define novel soluble antigens in sera and effusions which could be useful in tumor diagnoses and for monitoring tumor progression.
Kohno et al. (1988) studied this question.