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A method of anti-complement immunofluorescence is described for semiquantitative measurement of antibodies in 281 sera samples obtained from patients with bronchogenic carcinoma. Tests were performed on frozen sections of 17 human bronchogenic carcinoma. - 168 sera obtained from healthy persons were used as control. Tumor and control sera were also tested on frozen sections of 10 normal lungs. - The intensity of fluorescence was measured by incident light with the aid of a Leitz microscope photometer. In comparison to control sera the mean values of fluorescence intensity of the tested 281 tumor sera were significantly higher when frozen sections of bronchogenic carcinoma were used. - In order to allow for the different content of antigens in the bronchogenic carcinoma we have calculated the rations of the tested tumor and control sera on tumor and normal sections. - The percentage of positive results showed strong dependence on the histological type of the bronchogenic carcinoma used as frozen section and differed between 16,3 and 69,1%. The highest percentage of positive reactions resulted when tumor sera were tested on frozen sections of undifferentiated bronchogenic carcinoma. Besides that sera from patients suffering from small cell bronchogenic carcinoma gave more positive results than sera from patients with other bronchogenic carcinoma. - In 78,3% of the carcinoma were tested on frozen sections of undifferentiated bronchogenic carcinoma.

Xenotransplants of human carcinomas were tested for consistency of the analytical data of tumor markers over several passages in nude mice and nude rats. The binding properties of antibodies against tumor-associated antigens present in sera from tumor-bearing patients were tested with aid of the anticomplement immunofluorescence. The best binding capacity was found when sera from patients with bronchogenic carcinomas reacted on xenotransplants of the digestive tract (70%). Because of the low values for controls as well as for inflammatory diseases, this test may be applicable in the early recognition of lung cancer.

209 sera of tumor-bearing patients and 133 control sera were tested by anti-complement immunofluorescence (ACIF) on 2 xenotransplants of human bronchogenic cancer and on 2 xenotransplants of rectum carcinoma passaged in nu/nu mice. Testing of sera from patients with bronchogenic carcinoma resulted in a positive reaction with the xenotransplants of bronchogenic cancer in 48.5 to 58.5%, and sera of patients with digestive tract cancer in 6.6 to 16.1%. On xenotransplants of rectum carcinoma 73.2 to 78.1% of the sera from patients with bronchogenic carcinomas and 22.6 to 29.1% of the sera of patients with digestive tract cancer reacted positively. Control sera were positive dependent on the xenotransplants in 2.0 to 12.5%. These results indicate that there are antibodies in the sera of tumor-bearing patients against one or more non organ specific tumor-associated antigen(s) occurring in an elevated concentration in carcinomas of the digestive tract than in bronchogenic carcinomas. After absorption of the sera with homogenates of bronchogenic carcinoma and liver metastases of colon carcinoma the reaction was inhibited in the ACIF, reaching control values.

We report about the occurrence and importance of antinuclear antibodies in patients with malignant diseases. - We analyzed 110 sera of patients with tumors and found in 42% ANA. In contrast a corresponding control group contained ANA in 1.8%. - Patients with bronchogenic carcinoma and those of the digestive tract possessed ANA in a comparable percentage of 36 and 39, respectively. - Sera of patients with mamma- and uteruscarcinoma contained ANA in nearly 50%. - A connection between the type of the tumor and occurrence of ANA can be assumed. - Antibodies were directed against different antigens of the nucleus, often simultaneously occurring. Antibodies which we have detected, belong to different classes of immunoglobulins (IgG, IgM and IgA). In most cases we found a combination of antibodies. In 51% of positive cases antibodies were able to fix complement.