Possibility of immunodiagnosis in ovarian cancer.

An antigenic material possibly associated with ovarian cancer has been demonstrated by the Ouchterlony technique in the sera from 42(66.7%) of 63 patients with primary ovarian malignancy of various histological types. It was more frequently found in the sera of preoperative patients in the later stages of the disease and those in relapse. Positive reactions could also be elicited from control sera of a very few persons without ovarian cancer. in none of the sera examined could the corresponding antibodies by demonstrated. The antigenic material was found to be an alpha2- or beta-glycoprotein on preliminary identification. There is an antigenic relationship between this material and fetal or normal adult ovaries. The possibility of immunodiagnosis of ovarian cancer is briefly discussed.