Provisional "normograms" for identifying adenocarcinomas of the prostate or colon and hepatocellular carcinoma derived from their distribution of proteins separated by two-dimensional electrophoresis.

The distribution of proteins in samples from 8 prostate and 4 colon adenocarcinomas and 1 hepatoma was analyzed by 2-dimensional protein electrophoresis. Composite "normograms" based upon their distribution of proteins were developed from these patterns. Particular attention was paid to acidic proteins between pI 3.5 and 5.9. Of 161 proteins enumerated, 23 of the first 135 were present in prostate cancers, compared with 68 in colon cancer and 85 in the hepatoma. The 26 proteins denoted from nos. 135 to 161 were prostate associated, and none was evident in the colon or hepatoma samples. Twenty-seven prostate, 20 colon, and 48 liver cancer proteins were "unique" to each of the 3 cancers, respectively. The patterns of protein associated with each type of cancer were so dissimilar that with this technique no difficulty should be experienced in distinguishing these carcinomas originating from 3 different types of "stem" cells without obligatory recourse to microscopy.