Circulating antibodies against carcinoembryonic antigens of the human digestive system

Abstract

With a semipurified preparation of CEA and a modified bis-diazotized benzidine (BDB) hemagglutination procedure, the sera of 212 human subjects were tested for anti-CEA antibody activity. Hemagglutinating activity was found in the sera of 70% of patients with nonmetastatic cancer of the digestive system but in none of the patients in which metastatic dissemination had occurred. Anti-CEA antibodies were also demonstrable in the sera of the majority of pregnant and postpartum women studied and in two cases of noncancerous enteric disease. The sera of all other patients and normal subjects showed no anti-CEA hemagglutinating activity. The authors concluded that patients suffering from digestive system cancer are capable of producing tumor-specific antibodies and that pregnant women can develop an antibody response to certain foreign antigens of the fetal digestive system. The presence of a large mass of tumor material may lead to the removal of the anti-CEA antibodies from the circulation.