Treatment of B-cell lymphoma with monoclonal anti-idiotype antibody.

HUMAN B-cell malignant tumors result from the proliferation of single clones of cells that express surface markers characteristic of normal B lymphocytes.1 , 2 In particular, the surface immunoglobulin expressed by these cells is monoclonal — i.e., restricted to a single light-chain type and to a particular variable region unique to each case. The unique immunoglobulin variable region (idiotype) of each lymphoma clone may be considered a tumor-specific marker, distinguishing tumor cells from normal cells in the patient. We and others have shown that anti-idiotype antibodies can be used to monitor B-cell tumors and to investigate the biology of these tumors.3 4 5 Because . . .