Partial purification of carcinoembryonic-reactive antigen from breast neoplasms using lectin and antibody affinity chromatography.

antigenic and molecular-weight characteristics which differ from those of CEA obtained from colon tumors (10, 13, 28). An assay specific for breast cancer-derived CEA would have potential usefulness for the early diagnosis and management of human breast carcinoma. However, highly purified extracts of breast CEA suitable for production of specific antisera or radiolabeling have not been prepared previously. With the ultimate goal of establishing a breast-specific CEA assay, we have partially purified CEA from human breast neoplasms. The recently described problems of aggregation and per chloric acid lability of CEA (31) and the relatively low concen trations of CEA in breast compared to colon carcinomata (5—8,