Ectopic production of human chorionic gonadotrophin-like material by breast cancer.
Human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) is a placental protein whose ectopic secretion by nontrophoblast tumors has been claimed to be of clinical relevance. Serum levels of hCG were measured in 570 patients with breast disease. A double-antibody radioimmunoassay (RIA) using antisera to hCG-beta was employed. Approximately 14% of patients with breast cancer were found to have elevated serum hCG levels. Such raised titers were not stage- or tumor-type-related, but occurred only in postmenopausal subjects. Further study showed that those patients with elevated hCG levels also had raised levels of human luteinizing hormone (hLH). Assay cross-reactivity was shown to account for the "spurious" hCG elevations. An immunocytochemical study also failed to find hCG an ectopic breast tumor constituent and/or product. It is concluded that hCG is not produced by breast tumors and has no clinical utility.
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary* / Q000601:surgery; D006063:Chorionic Gonadotropin / Q000097:blood*; D003429:Cross Reactions; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007986:Luteinizing Hormone / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009384:Paraneoplastic Endocrine Syndromes / Q000556:secondary*; D011863:Radioimmunoassay; D012737:Sex Factors
D006063:Chorionic Gonadotropin; D007986:Luteinizing Hormone