Monoclonal antibodies specific for carcinoembryonic antigen produced by hybridoma technology

Abstract

Antibodies against CEA have been used at the Oncologic Center of Nuclear Medicine since 1977. The tumor and organ specificity of CEA, however, was challenged by several reports describing small amounts of substances immunologically identical to CEA in normal colon mucosa and in carcinoma from non digestive organs. In addition, it has been shown that CEA shares antigenic determinants with crossreacting substances present in large amounts in normal adult tissues. Efforts to improve the specificity of CEA assays by alternative approaches for purification of the antigen and of the antisera have met with only partial success.