Serum alpha fetoprotein heterogeneity as a means of differentiating between primary hepatocellular carcinoma and hepatic secondaries.
The concanavalin A binding characteristics of serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) were investigated in patients with primary hepatocellular carcinoma and hepatic secondaries using affinity column chromatography and radioimmunoassay. The primary hepatocellular carcinoma (n = 21) was associated with a median concanavalin A non-reactive AFP fraction of 7.4% (range 1.6 - 18.8) while the hepatic secondaries (n = 8) had a median concanavalin A non-reactive AFP fraction of 50.7% (range 26.6 - 91.7). A simple diagnostic test for differentiating between the two groups of patients is proposed.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002846:Chromatography, Affinity; D003208:Concanavalin A; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000556:secondary*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis / Q000175:diagnosis; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins / Q000032:analysis*
D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins; D003208:Concanavalin A