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Demonstration of placental alkaline phosphatase in human breast cancer
Author(s) -
Wada H. Garrett,
Shindelman Jeffrey E.,
Ortmeyer Ann E.,
Sussman Howard H.
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
international journal of cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.475
H-Index - 234
eISSN - 1097-0215
pISSN - 0020-7136
DOI - 10.1002/ijc.2910230608
Subject(s) - alkaline phosphatase , placental alkaline phosphatase , isozyme , placenta , endocrinology , biology , medicine , isoelectric focusing , chemistry , enzyme , biochemistry , pregnancy , fetus , genetics
The screening of a series of 11 metastatic breast tumors for the presence of the placental isoenzyme of alkaline phosphatase (EC 3.1.3.1) by RIA revealed one strong producer. The alkaline phosphatase of this tumor was characterized with respect to its immunochemical cross‐reactivity, inhibition by L‐phenylalanine and levamisole, subunit molecular weight (Mr) and isoelectric point (pl) in two‐dimensional electrophoresis, and one‐dimensional peptide map. In all parameters of the characterization, the tumor alkaline phosphatase was similar to placental alkaline phosphatase, except for subunit molecular weight which was slightly lower (60,000 versus 64,000 for the placental isoenzyme). No strong placental alkaline phosphatase producers were found among 16 primary tumors examined by RIA. The screening of patients' sera for the placental alkaline phosphatase using RIA indicated elevated levels over post‐menopausal controls in 20% of the metastatic patients. Only 3% of the primary patients had elevated serum levels. These results suggest that the placental isoenzyme of alkaline phosphatase may be a useful tumor marker for recurrent breast cancer.