Development of a Specific Anti-leukaemic Serum for the Treatment of Leukaemia in Clinics

Abstract

LEUKAEMIC cells are antigenically indistinguishable from their normal counterparts and antibodies formed against them are therefore likely to exhibit cross-reactivity with normal cells. There is, however, a difference in the net surface charge¹— the charge which regulates the ability of the antibodies to approach the target cells—which could be exploited to prepare antibodies specific to leukaemic cells. To this end, the net surface charge on the white blood cells of normal O group people was suitably altered by tagging the cells with chemicals such as 1-fluoro-2,4-dinitrobenzene (FDNB). These cells were then used as antigens for producing antibodies against human leukaemic cells in rabbits and horses. Here we give a brief account of the production of purified serum specific for leukaemic cells using immunized horse. A preliminary report on the production of specific anti-leukaemic serum from immunized rabbit has already been published².