Isolation and identification of soluble skin-reactive membrane antigens of malignant and normal human breast cells.

Abstract

Summary Patients with carcinoma of the breast had delayed hypersensitivity skin reactions to soluble membrane antigens of breast cancer and also to comparable antigens from control breast tissues. The skin-reactive antigens were further separated by gradient polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and the various gel regions were tested. Proteins from two adjacent gel regions gave positive reactions, but they appeared to contain different antigens. One antigen was detected in breast cancer extracts and not in control breast extracts. It elicited reactivity in patients with either localized or metastatic breast cancer and was negative with patients with other types of carcinomas. The other antigen was not a tumor-associated antigen but was present in extracts from both breast cancer and benign breast disease. This breast tissue antigen produced skin reactions in breast cancer patients with localized disease but not in patients with advanced disease.