Purification and characterization of a pancreas cancer-related antigen.

A pancreatic cancer-related antigen (PCRA) has been identified, isolated and characterized from liver metastases of pancreatic carcinoma. The purified PCRA was homogeneous by polyacrylamide disc gel electrophoresis, had an Mr of about 500,000, consisted of 30% carbohydrate and 70% protein, and migrated in the alpha 2-beta region in electrophoresis. In gel immunoprecipitation the antiserum against PCRA reacted with extracts of pancreatic cancer and spleen, but neither with normal human serum nor with normal pancreas, liver, lung, large and small intestine extracts. It clearly differed from other known pancreatic tumor-associated antigens.