A pancreatic oncofetal antigen: its partial purification and clinical application.

Studies on the purification, characterization and clinical application of pancreatic oncofetal antigen were reported. This antigen was purified from fetal pancreas, and migrated in the beta-region on electrophoresis. Its molecular weight was about 80 x 10(4) daltons on gel filtration with a Sephacryl S-300. This antigen is clearly different from other oncofetal antigens such as alfafetoprotein, carcinoembryonic antigen or ferritin. Clinically, this pancreatic oncofetal antigen was positive in sera of 68.4% of the patients with pancreatic cancer. However, elevated level of this antigen was also observed in the sera of some patients with biliary tract cancer, colon cancer or gastric cancer. The antigen was also found in pancreatic juice obtained from patients with pancreatic cancer in almost the same incidence as in their sera. It is suggested that a pancreatic oncofetal antigen assay of sera and pancreatic juice in combination with other oncofetal antigens is valuable for the diagnosis and monitoring the clinical course of pancreatic cancer.