Use of panels of monoclonal antibodies in the differential diagnosis of neuroblastoma and lymphoblastic disorders.

Panels of monoclonal antibodies offer a rapid and accurate adjunct to conventional techniques in the diagnosis of neuroblastoma, leukaemia, and lymphoblastic lymphoma. Heterogeneity of antigen expression is observed within a tumour type, and therefore a panel of reagents should be used for each malignancy investigated. Eight monoclonal antibodies which bind to neuroblastoma but not to normal bone marrow and five which bind to leukaemic and lymphoma cells but not to neuroblastoma have been selected for indirect-immunofluorescence testing of bone-marrow aspirates, frozen sections of tumours, and cells from malignant effusions. With this technique a confident diagnosis can be made within 2 h. Profiles of antibodies binding to tumour cells have been used to establish a definitive diagnosis in cases where conventional techniques have proved inadequate.