ISSN:
1365-3083
Source:
Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
Topics:
Medicine
Notes:
A new antigen, basic fetoprotein (BFP) found by M. Ishii in human fetus and in some cancer tissue of adult, was quantitated in patients' sera by radioimmunoassay. In 167 of 377 patients (44.3%) with malignant diseases, serum BFP exceeded 100 ng/ml and 87 cases (23.0%) were over 200 ng/ml. In contrast, 49 of 230 (21.3%) with benign diseases exceeded 100 ng/ml and 11 cases (4.8%) were over 200 ng/ml. No normal control exceeded 100 ng/ml.A higher incidence and higher serum-concentration of BFP were observed in patients with carcinoma of the liver, bile duct, esophagus and kidney, but it was also found in various other malignancies including leukemias and sarcomas. Generally, after a successful operation, BFP fell to normal levels, and with tumor recurrence, BFP levels rose higher particularly with massive metastasis. In the benign group, BFP was higher in patients with acute and chronic active hepatitis.Although BFP has less organ specificity than other fetal substances, and it appears in some benign diseases too, BFP is a new member of the carcinofetal protein family, which may be a useful marker in cancer pathophysiology.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3083.1978.tb03991.x
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