Common antigenic sites on exfoliated cells derived from cervical carcinoma and in tumor cells of nonuterine origin as demonstrated by monoclonal antibodies in immunoperoxidase assay.

The binding characteristics of monoclonal antibodies produced against a variety of human tumor cells were studied on cervical carcinoma cell lines and on exfoliated cells of cervical smears. The latter included normal epithelial cells, cells derived from cervical intraepithelial neoplasia, and cells from squamous cell carcinoma. Monoclonal antibodies that bound in immunoperoxidase assays to ethanol-fixed smears of cultured human tumor cells but not to normal cervical smears were screened on cervical smears containing malignant cells. Of the six antibodies selected for detailed studies, two each had been produced against bladder carcinoma and melanoma and one each against cervical and gastric carcinoma. Antibody 99-57 stained malignant cells from invasive carcinoma but not normal cervical cells. In cells from intraepithelial neoplasia, staining intensity was highest in severely dysplastic cells. Thus monoclonal antibodies are potentially useful in the detection of malignant cervical cells within a large number of nonmalignant cells, in conjunction with other diagnostic procedures.