Cell surface blood group antigens in prostatic carcinoma.

Surface blood group antigens are present to some degree in most epithelia. These antigens frequently are lost during neoplastic transformation. The authors looked for the presence or absence of surface blood group antigens in 52 cases of prostatic carcinoma of various histologic grades using the specific red blood cell adherence test. The normal prostatic tissue showed a 2+ reaction in patients with type A or B blood and 0-1+ in type O. The hyperplastic areas were 4+ for red blood cell adherence in patients with type A or B blood and 0-4+ in type O. In contrast, all malignant foci were negative for blood group antigens, no matter what the histologic grade or blood type.