Subject(s)
Adenocarcinoma/complications , Breast Neoplasms/complications , Carcinoma, Basal Cell/complications , Neoplasms, Multiple Primary , Skin Neoplasms/complications , Adenocarcinoma/diagnosis , Aged , Breast Neoplasms/diagnosis , Carcinoma, Basal Cell/diagnosis , Humans , Male , Neoplasms, Multiple Primary/diagnosis , Skin Neoplasms/diagnosisABSTRACT
The localization of the carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) in carcinomas and mucosae of the digestive tract in humans and in mesenteric lymph nodes was studied by indirect immunofluorescence. In colonic and gastric adenocarcinomas, CEA had typical centroglandular localization. Cytoplasmic localization of the CEA was seen in invasive cancer cells having lost their glandular organization. CEA was also present in colonic and gastric mucosae surrounding the tumor. In gastric mucosa obtained at autopsy from subjects with nonneoplastic diseases, CEA was found only in glands having undergone intestinal metaplasia. In lymph nodes of cancer patients CEA was always present in metastatic cells and in germinal centers. Characteristic localization of CEA in germinal centers of metastatic and nonmetastatic lymph nodes could suggest the presence of CEA-anti-CEA immune complexes.
Subject(s)
Adenocarcinoma/immunology , Carcinoembryonic Antigen/analysis , Colonic Neoplasms/immunology , Stomach Neoplasms/immunology , Cells, Cultured , Humans , Intestinal Mucosa/immunology , Kidney/immunology , Liver/immunology , Lung/immunology , Lymph Nodes/immunology , Lymphatic Metastasis , Spleen/immunology , Thymus Gland/immunologyABSTRACT
Using the method of double diffusion in agar and precipitation, inhibition test and specific antitumor immune sera, perchloric extracts of carcinomas of the stomach and lower parts of the gastrointestinal tract were found to contain a carcinoembryonic antigen with electrophoretic mobility of gamma-globulins. Antigens from carcinomas of all studied parts of the gastrointestinal tract (stomach, sigmoid, colon and rectum) gave lines of identity in the test of double diffusion in agar. This antigen was not demonstrable in the mucous membranes surrounding the carcinomas of the gastrointestinal tract or in normal organs (gastrointestinal mucosa, liver, kidneys, spleen, plasma), or in perchloric extracts of gastrointestinal tissues of human fetuses.
