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Antigenic changes in human breast neoplasia
Author(s) -
Edynak Eugene M.,
Lardis Michael P.,
Vrana Mark
Publication year - 1971
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/1097-0142(197112)28:6<1457::aid-cncr2820280619>3.0.co;2-a
Subject(s) - antigen , pathology , medicine , breast cancer , antibody , immunodiffusion , cancer , immunology
A second fetal antigen of gamma mobility (γ fetal protein‐2) has been found with widespread distribution in human neoplasia including 40% of saline extracts of carcinomas of the breast, colon, ovary, stomach, various sarcomas, and leukemias tested. Antibody was found in serum of less than 0.25 of 1% of cancer patients tested but was not found in the serum of normal donors nor in patients with non‐neoplastic diseases. Immunodiffusion analysis with antibody from a 42‐year‐old male patient with myxoliposarcoma demonstrated the antigen in 40% of breast cancers, in none of 35 specimens of normal breast tissue, and in none of 30 specimens of diseased tissues. However, the antigen was demonstrated in 18/35 tissue specimens adjacent to the primary breast tumors. Immunodiffusion and microscopic analysis of breast specimens taken at 2‐cm increments from the primary tumor, from contralateral breast biopsies, and from liver and lung metastases indicated that the presence of γFP‐2 antigen could not be explained by the presence of microscopic tumor nor by tumor breakdown and antigen diffusion. Although the role of the breast lymphatics as a means of dissemination of the antigen throughout the breast cannot be totally excluded, the data suggest that the concept of the γFP‐2 antigen as a product of a primed cell with malignant or near malignant physiology must be considered.