Serum alpha fetoprotein heterogeneity as a means of differentiating between primary hepatocellular carcinoma and hepatic secondaries.

The concanavalin A binding characteristics of serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) were investigated in patients with primary hepatocellular carcinoma and hepatic secondaries using affinity column chromatography and radioimmunoassay. The primary hepatocellular carcinoma (n = 21) was associated with a median concanavalin A non-reactive AFP fraction of 7.4% (range 1.6 - 18.8) while the hepatic secondaries (n = 8) had a median concanavalin A non-reactive AFP fraction of 50.7% (range 26.6 - 91.7). A simple diagnostic test for differentiating between the two groups of patients is proposed.