Summary
Forty specimens of benign and malignant ovarian tumours were studied for localization of tissue polypeptide antigen (TPA) at light and electron microscopic levels by an indirect immunoperoxidase technique. Of the 30 ovarian carcinomas, 23 (77%) were positive and 7 (23%) were negative for TPA, while of the 10 benign ovarian tumours 3 (30%) were positive and 7 (70%) were negative. Positive reaction did not correlate with the tumour grade. Of the 10 patients with metastasis, 8 (80%) had positive tumours. Staining for TPA was observed at the intraluminal cell surfaces and peripheral cell membranes. The ultrastructural localization of TPA revealed electron-dense reaction products at the cell surface and microvillous surfaces. These results provide confirmatory and supplementary evidence to support the previous findings of TPA in the serum and suggest that testing for TPA in ovarian tumors has a limited prognostic importance and a poor diagnostic value. The surface property of TPA suggests that the cell membrane is involved in secretion and probably synthesis of TPA.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anteby SO, Yosef SM, Schenker JG (1983) Ovarian cancer: Geographical, host and environmental factors. An overview. Arch Gynecol 234:137–148
Bjorklund B, Bjorklund V (1957) Antigenicity of pooled human malignant and normal tissues by cytoimmunological technique: Presence of an insoluble, heat-labile tumor antigen. Int Arch Allergy 10:153–184
Bjorklund B, Bjorklund V, Wiklund B, Lundstrom R, Ehdahl PH, Harbard L, Kaijser K, Eklund G, Luning B (1973) A human tissue polypeptide related to cancer and placenta: I. Preparation and properties. II. Assay technique. III. Clinical studies of 1483 individuals with cancer and other conditions. In: Immunological techniques for detection of cancer. Bjorklund B (ed) Bonniers, Stockholm, pp 133–187
Bjorklund B (1980) On the nature and clinical use of tissue polypeptide antigen (TPA). Tumor Diagnostik 1:9–20
Bjorklund B, Wiklund B, Luning B, Andersson K, Kallin E, Bjorklund V (1980) Radioimmunoassay of TPA. A laboratory test in cancer. Tumor Diagnostik 2:78–84
Inoue M, Inoue Y, Hiramatsu K, Ueda G (1985) The clinical value of tissue polypeptide antigen in patients with gynecologic tumors. Cancer 55:2618–2623
Luning B, Wiklund B, Redelius P, Bjorklund B (1980) Biochemical properties of tissue polypeptide antigen. Bioch Bioph Acta 24:90–101
Menendez-Botet CJ, Oettgen HF, Pinsky CM, Schwartz MK (1978) A preliminary evaluation of tissue polypeptide antigen in serum or urine (or both) of patients with cancer or benign neoplasms. Clin Chem 24:868–872
Silverburg E, Lubera JA (1988) Cancer statistics, 1988. CA: A Cancer J Clin 38:5–6
Wiklund B, Luning B, Bjorklund B (1981) Chemical studies of tissue polypeptide antigen (TPA). III. On the nature of the antigenic determinant(s) of TPA subfraction B1. Acta Chem Scand B35:325–336
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ghazizadeh, M. Immunohistochemical and ultrastructural localization of tissue polypeptide antigen in human ovarian tumours. Vichows Archiv A Pathol Anat 414, 453–457 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00718630
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00718630