Immunodiagnostic test for the early detection of carcinoma of the breast.

A cytotoxic assay for the identification of circulating lymphocytes bearing surface ferritin was performed on 100 patients with malignant disease of the breast and in 50 healthy women. Forty-five patients were found to have a subpopulation of ferritin bearing lymphocytes, and all of them proved to have Stages I and II carcinoma of the breast. No such lymphocytes were identified in normal women, and in the remaining 55 patients, 33 had benign disease of the breast, 20 had Stage III carcinoma of the breast and two had Stages I and II carc-noma of the breast. It appears that this immunodiagnostic test may provide an additional tool for the early detection of carcinoma of the breast and may have a prognostic implication.