Radioimmunoassay of serum alpha-fetoprotein in patients with different maliganant tumors

Alpha-fetoprotein, alpha-1-antitrypsin, and transferrin in gonadal yolk-sac tumours

Since gonadal yolk-sac tumour in pure form or as a component of mixed germ cell tumour is in the majority of patients highly malignant, its histological recognition is of great prognostic importance. Yolk-sac tumour may assume various different histological guises, which have hitherto caused considerable terminological confusion; the present paper is aimed at correlating these morphological diversities with biochemical features which are consistent with yolk-sac differentiation. Using an enzyme-bridge immunoperoxidase technique, a series of 16 gonadal germ cell tumours with a yolk-sac component were screened for the presence of alpha-fetoprotein, alpha-1-antitrypsin, and transferrin. These proteins, normally produced by human yolk sac, were demonstrable in all the morphological patterns of yolk-sac tumour we have previously described. Six malignant non-germ cell tumours were submitted to the same investigations, and no evidence of the three protein markers was found in five; one tumour, however, an oat cell carcinoma of the bronchus, stained positively for transferrin.

Human alpha-fetoprotein in the epidermal cells of Bowen's disease

Human alpha-fetoprotein (HAFP) was demonstrated in clusters of atypical cells of an extensive Bowen's disease involving the pubic area. Frozen sections were studied by indirect immunofluorescence using monospecific rabbit anti-HAFP antiserum or purified rabbit anti-HAFP antibody followed by staining with fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-labeled goat anti-rabbit gamma-globulin and by a direct technique using FITC-labeled rabbit anti-HAFP Fab2 fragments. Sections of fetal liver served as positive controls and sections of adult human skin and liver were used as negative controls. Preabsorption of the anti-HAFP antibodies with purified HAFP blocked the fluorescence. This finding adds Bowen's disease to the list of premalignant disorders which possess HAFP as an oncofetal marker of their malignant potential. HAFP might possibly enhance malignant behavior through interference with cellular immunosurveillance mechanisms.

The monitoring of serum factors in patients with cancer

Numerous changes occur in the sera of patients bearing malignant neoplasms. These changes may take the form of appearance of oncofetal proteins that are normally not detectable in non-cancer-bearing patients, or an alteration in the normally present serum constituents such as the serum proteins. Monitoring of these serum factors may be of considerable value in assessing the progress of cancer patients following treatment of their primary tumour. This paper reviews progress in this area to date and documents our early results with six non-specific serum factors (total protein, total protein hexose, total protein hexosamine, ceruloplasmin, alpha-1-antitrypsin, and haptoglobin), in 64 patients bearing a variety of malignant neoplasms in various stages of the disease. Present methods of postoperative assessment of cancer patients are inadequate for detecting early recurrence. Preliminary results indicate that the nonspecific serum factors that we are studying may be of considerable value for monitoring of cancer patients, and may also possibly serve as a diagnostic screen in high-risk groups.