Monoclonal antibody (MoAb) conjugates have been used to treat a variety of malignancies. The majority of the MoAbs which have been used therapeutically are from murine sources. The infusion of these foreign proteins into humans can be expected to elicit anti-murine antibodies and may be one of the major limitations to the clinical use of murine MoAbs. In these studies, we report on the nature and specificity of the human anti-murine antibody (HAMA) response in patients given single and multiple infusions of the two Vinca alkaloid conjugates of the MoAb KS1/4, which recognizes tumor-associated antigens in a variety of adenocarcinomas. A HAMA response was induced in a majority of the patients receiving infusions of KS1/4 conjugates, regardless of the specific conjugate used or the number of infusions. The magnitude of the response did not appear to be dose related. Antibodies directed to the drug moieties of these conjugates, anti-Vinca alkaloids, were also induced in patients with HAMA responses. The magnitude of the anti-Vinca response paralleled that of the HAMA.