Antigens associated with chemically induced intestinal carcinomas of rats.

Rabbits were immunized with extracts of primary or grafted intestinal adeno-carcinomas induced by carcinogenic drugs in inbred rats. After absorption with normal tissue extracts, the antisera were able to recognize three tumor-associated antigens. Two of them were glycoproteins, present in cancer cells but also, in trace amounts, in mucous cells of the normal digestive tract. The third antigen is not detectable in the normal digestive system, but present in normal spleen; on im-unofluorescence, it is not located in the cancer cells, but in polymorphonuclear cells infiltrating the tumor. None of the three antigens cross-reacts with human carcinoembryonic antigen, or human or rat alphafetoprotein. On the other hand, one of the glycoprotein antigens is immunologically related to the human blood group A substance.