Antibody dependent cellular cytotoxicity and complement mediated cytotoxicity on leukemic cells mediated by anti K562 monoclonal antibodies.

Three anti K562 monoclonal antibodies (MAb) 4.3, 4.6 and 4.8 reacting predominantly with cells of myeloid lineage, were tested for antibody dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) and complement dependent cytotoxicity (CDC). MAb 4.6 (IgG3k) effectively mediated ADCC against K562 cells and fresh leukemic targets with effectors from healthy donors. However, for ADCC on chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) targets, effectors from CML patients in remission needed modulation with IL-2. All MAb showed significant CDC against peripheral blood (PB) and bone marrow (BM) cells obtained from CML patients in chronic phase, and untreated acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients. MAb displayed no CDC against PB and BM cells from CML patients in remission and BM cells of Hodgkin's Disease (HD) patients with normal BM cellularity. In clonogenic assay, colony forming units (CFU) in the BM aspirate obtained from CML patients in chronic phase were significantly reduced by treatment with MAb and complement.