Letter: Pregnancy-associated alpha2-glycoprotein and cancer

Usefulness of clinical chemistry measurements in classifying patients with breast cancer

Laboratory measurements can be used to detect, classify, and monitor patients with breast cancer. This review covers in detail the clinical usefulness of carcino embryonic antigen, tissue polypeptide antigen, various glycoproteins, pregnancy-associated proteins, casein, lactalbumin, beta-2-microglobulin, ferritin, immunoglobins, acute phase proteins, placental-like alkaline phosphatase, liver-associated enzymes, glycosyltransferases, human chorionic gonadotropin, calcitonin, polyamines, and collagen breakdown products, in relationship to their diagnostic utility in patients suspected of having or known to have breast cancer. In addition, these authors assess the merits of various multivariate techniques using a number of clinical chemistry quantities in the same regard. Finally, the relative contribution of biochemical tests vs. the information values gained from "surgical pathology" data (number of positive nodes, number of negative nodes, and degree of anaplasia) is discussed.

Circulating levels of pregnancy zone protein: normal range and the influence of age and gender

Serum levels of pregnancy zone protein (PZP) were measured in 506 apparently normal males and 329 normal non-pregnant females, the age range being 18 to 70 years. The estimations of PZP were performed by sensitive radio-rocket-line immunoelectrophoresis. The distribution of the data had a marked positive skew in both sexes which was reduced following logarithmic transformation. Serum concentrations in both men and women were found to increase significantly with advancing age. This increase and the mean concentrations were significantly higher in females.