[Monoclonal antibodies in the radioimmunological diagnosis of malignant tumors of the gastrointestinal tract and ovaries].

The report deals with the clinical significance of application of two procedures of radioimmunologic assay of levels of monoclonal CA-19-9 and CA-125 antigens in diagnosing gastrointestinal and ovarian malignancies. The CA-19-9 antigen test appeared to be ineffective at the early stages of development of malignant tumors of the stomach, rectum and colon. The level of the antigen showed an increase in 37% of cases of hepatic metastases only. However, the test may be instrumental in differentiating between inflammatory processes and malignancies in the pancreatohepatoduodenal area. CA-125 antigen serves as a discriminating marker for tumor involvement of the ovaries. However, its specificity in differentiating between benign and malignant tumors of this organ is under 63%.