[The study of ABH isoantigen and T (Thomsen-Friedenreich) antigen of superficial urothelial tumor].

ABH isoantigen of 154 superficial urothelial tumor including 11 carcinoma in situ of the bladder (CIS) was investigated by the avidin-biotin-peroxidase complex (ABC) method, and the results were compared with those obtained by the specific red cell adherence (SRCA) test. T (Thomsen-Friedenreich) antigen, a precursor of other blood group antigen than ABC, was also investigated by ABC method. ABH antigen detected by ABC method seemed to be correlated to tumor grade and recurrence rate, while that by SRCA method did not. Sixty two percent of the low grade papillary bladder tumor of blood group other than O was positive by ABC method. As for the recurrence rate of low grade tumor, 11 of 33 cases (33%) with positive ABH isoantigen showed recurrence, while 13 of 21 cases (62%) without ABH isoantigen did so. In CIS, ABH antigen was deleted in 82 percent using ABC method. ABC method is more sensitive and more specific than SRCA, and the sensitivity was increased in blood O. T antigen, which is expressed in many carcinomas, (defined T(+) by Coon) is usually not detected in normal epithelium. Normally, T antigen is cryptic but can be unmasked with sialidase (cryptic T(+)). The cells which lacked T even after sialidase treatment are called cryptic T(-). We investigated T antigen expression in CIS lesion and ureteropelvic tumor by using T specific lectin (peanut agglutinin). In nine cases of CIS which ABH was negative, cryptic T(+), T(+) and cryptic T(-) were found in three, one and five cases, respectively. In ten cases of high grade ureteropelvic tumor, which ABH was all negative, cryptic T(+) was found in five cases. Of these five cases, three are well over five years after surgery. These data, although preliminary, indicate that, by combining two markers (ABH and T antigen), prognosis of urothelial tumor may be predicted better.