Diagnosis of cancer by radioimmunoassay of muscle type aldolase.

A specific radioimmunoassay was developed for the quantification of human muscle type aldolase (M-ALD) in human serum. The method utilized the double antibody radioimmunoassay technique using radioiodinated M-ALD, chicken antibody to M-ALD and rabbit antibody to chicken IgG. The serum M-ALD values of 41 normal healthy subjects ranged from 130 to 210 ng/ml, average 171 +/- 39 ng/ml. In 76 noncancer hospital patients, excluding patients with muscle diseases, the serum M-ALD values ranged from 125 to 220 ng/ml, average 164 +/- 52 ng/ml. In contrast, 129 cancer patients had high serum M-ALD values of 586 +/- 926 ng/ml, ranging from 85 to 5,800 ng/ml. Eighty-six percent of the cancer patients showed serum M-ALD concentrations over the normal range. The measurement of M-ALD values in the serum of patients by radioimmunoassay may be a valuable laboratory test in the diagnosis and follow-up of cancer patients.