Composition of intact hormone and free subunits in the human chorionic gonadotrophin-like material found in serum and urine of patients with carcinoma of the bladder.

Ectopic-hCG production occurs in approximately 30% of urothelial cancers. However, the clinical features which might be expected to result from elevated hCG levels are rare. We now show that in six of seven metastatic and 20 of 21 localized (Ta-T4) positive hCG bladder cancer patients, only the free beta-subunit of hCG and its respective urinary breakdown product, beta-core, could be detected in clinical samples. Since only intact hCG is biologically active, this explains the discrepancy between biochemical and clinical findings.