A PROSTATE ANTIGEN IN SERA OF PROSTATIC-CANCER PATIENTS

  • 1 January 1980
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 40  (7) , 2428-2432
Abstract
A prostate antigen was detected by a rocket immunoelectrophoresis technique in 17 of 219 sera from patients with advanced prostatic cancer. Sera from 175 patients with nonprostatic cancers, including those with late-stage disease of the breast, lung, colon, rectum, stomach and pancreas, were antigen negative, as were 20 samples each from normal adults and age-matched males. Antigen in sera showed immunological identity with antigen in prostate tissue as determined by immunoprecipitation peak enhancement experiments. Using antibody affinity chromatography and radioimmunoprecipitation techniques, the antigen in sera was purified and subjected to sodium dodecyl sulfate electrophoresis; it exhibited a MW of .apprx. 36,000, similar to that of antigen isolated from prostatic tissue. Considerable effort has been made to identify enzyme or antigen markers for various types of cancers with the view towards developing specific diagnostic reagents.].