[The cellular localization of the fertility alpha 2-microglobulin in tumors of the reproductive system].

Seventy-five samples of human tumors were examined immunohistochemically for fertility alpha-2-microglobulin also known as progesterone-associated protein of the endometrium. The protein was detected in 35.7% (5 of 14) endometrial cancer samples and in 20% (2 of 10) of ovarian malignancies. Tumors of the stomach, colon, breast, lung and some other sites failed to reveal the antigen with the exception of a single case of pulmonary adenocarcinoma which showed the ectopic expression of the protein. Fertility alpha-2-microglobulin is stage-specific tissue marker of the endometrium. It is expressed at the final stage of cell differentiation and is partially lost in cancer.