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Serum antibody in patients with mammary disease
Author(s) -
Humphrey Loren J.,
Estes Norman C.,
Morse Paul A.,
Jewell William R.,
Boudet Robert A.,
Hudson Michael J. K.
Publication year - 1974
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(197410)34:8+<1516::aid-cncr2820340825>3.0.co;2-d
Subject(s) - medicine , antibody , immunology
Antibody to a breast cancer antigen was detected by immunodiffusion or complement fixation in at least one serum sample in 46% of 84 patients with a diagnosis of carcinoma, 34% of 96 patients with fibrocystic disease, and 25% of 44 patients with fibroadenoma. A single serum sample obtained from screenees of the Detection Center for Breast Diseases was tested by immunodiffusion only, and antibody was found in 3 of 206 screenees (1.5%). Eleven of 13 patients with breast cancer metastatic to lymph nodes and no detectable serum antibody either had recurrence or were dead within 12 months of mastectomy. Fifteen of 18 patients with breast cancer metastatic to lymph nodes and with detectable serum antibody were alive and free of disease for up to 24 months. Data to date indicate that serum antibody in the patient with breast disease cannot be used at this time as an “early detection test.” As a seroprognostic factor in patients with breast cancer metastatic to lymph nodes, the finding of antibody has great promise.