Partial purification and characterization of tumor associated antigen in cervical carcinoma.

An identical component of tumor associated antigen (TAA) was detected in all clinical stages of the carcinoma of cervix (CaCx), in both premenopausal and postmenopausal patients, using heterologous antisera against the cancer tissues by immunodiffusion and immunoelectrophoretic tests. The TAA appeared to be cross-reacting specifically with carcinoma of other gynecological organs. A second TAA component was observed to be present only in CaCx, Stage II of premenopausal patients. The TAA component of CaCx common for all clinical stages, irrespective of climacteric states, was partially purified by subjecting postmeno CaCx, Stage II to gel filtration on Sephadex G-200. The antigen was found to be glycoprotein in nature, enzyme sensitive, highly thermostable and antigenically active at a pH range of 2.0-10.7. The approximate molecular weight of the component was found to be 67 000.