Carcinoembryonic Antigen in Whole Serum

• Published in: British journal of cancer 1972-10, Vol.26 (5), p.356-360
• Main Authors: MacSween, J M, Warner, N L, Bankhurst, A D, Mackay, I R
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Ammonium Sulfate; Animals; Antigen-Antibody Complex; Antigens, Neoplasm - analysis; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Breast Neoplasms - diagnosis; Cancer Research; Colonic Neoplasms - diagnosis; Drug Resistance; Epidemiology; False Positive Reactions; Female; gamma-Globulins; Gastrointestinal Neoplasms - diagnosis; Gastrointestinal Neoplasms - immunology; Goats; Humans; Liver Cirrhosis - diagnosis; Lung Neoplasms - diagnosis; Methods; Molecular Medicine; Oncology; original-article; Pancreatitis - diagnosis; Perchlorates; Rabbits - immunology; Radioimmunoassay
• ISSN: 0007-0920; 1532-1827
• DOI: 10.1038/bjc.1972.46

A microradioimmunoassay technique is described for detecting carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) in whole serum. It differs from previous methods in being performed on 0·025 ml of whole serum instead of 5 ml of serum extracted with perchloric acid. The present assay was sufficiently sensitive to detect 85% of carcinomata, localized to the colon, but positive results occurred also with certain non-gastrointestinal cancers, chiefly lung and breast, and certain non-malignant diseases. Many of the latter sera, with the general exception of alcoholic cirrhosis and pancreatitis, gave negative results after extraction with perchloric acid. It is suggested that a direct assay for CEA in whole serum may permit testing of large numbers of sera by laboratories with facilities for radioimmunoassays.