Diagnosis of pancreatic cancer by pancreatic oncofetal antigen (poa) in pure pancreatic juice.

Pancreatic oncofetal antigen (POA) was detected in the pure pancreatic juice by double immunodiffusion assay in a series of patients, using anti-POA prepared by immunizing rabbits with human fetal pancreas homogenate. The test was positive in as many as 72% of the patients with pancreatic cancer studied, whereas only less than 10% of patients with other diseases or normal controls were positive for this antigen, thus suggesting a potential usefulness of the pure pancreatic juice assay for POA in the diagnosis of cancer of the pancreas. The POA has proven to be distinct from such oncofetal antigens as AFP and CEA, to be labile to heating at 85 degrees C, to show beta-mobility on immunoelectrophoresis and to have a molecular weight of approximately 37,000 as estimated by gel filtration chromatography.