Reevaluation of C-reactive protein in cancer sera by radioimmunoassay and radial immunodiffusion. I. Diagnostic value and use in battery of conventional tumor markers.

C-reactive protein (CRP) has been found to be ubiquitous in sera when determined by a highly sensitive methods such as radioimmunoassay. Patients with some tumors appear to have much higher serum levels of CRP than others; in these, CRP seems to reflect the tumor burden. There is a positive correlation with TNM staging and the disease activity a the time of determination. CRP shows a high degree of 'uniqueness' when correlated with other routinely used cancer markers such as carcinoembryonic antigen, placental-like alkaline phosphatase and gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase.