Natural antibody against neuroblastoma among Japanese children with or without neuroblastoma

Abstract

This study was conducted to examine the distribution of a natural antibody against neuroblastoma (NB) among Japanese children as well as the clinical significance of the presence of this antibody in the sera during treatment in patients with International Neuroblastoma Staging System Stage 4 NB. Human sera were obtained from 8 healthy volunteers, 82 patients with nonmalignant surgical diseases, and 35 patients with NB including 3 with Stage 1 disease, 6 with Stage 2, 7 with Stage 3, 17 with Stage 4, and 2 with Stage 4S. This natural antibody was quantified by flow cytometry and its antitumor activity was measured by complement-dependent cytotoxicity (CDC) using TGW cells, a human NB cell line, as the target. Immunoglobulin (Ig) M antibody and CDC activity against NB could be detected in all sera from healthy volunteers and from patients with nonmalignant surgical diseases who were age > 1 year. The amount of IgM antibody and CDC activity in sera from patients with Stage 4 NB at diagnosis consistently was low, most likely because of massive absorption by tumor cells. In this group of patients, the increased CDC activity detected during treatment was indicative of a favorable factor for survival (P < 0.005). A natural antibody against NB appears to exist in the sera of Japanese children. The sequential assessment of the levels of this antibody in the sera from Stage 4 NB patients during treatment may serve as a prognostic indicator.