Clinical value of tumour-associated antigens.

Since the first clear demonstration of the existence of 'specific' antigens in experimental tumours (Gross, 1943; Foley, 1953), the extensive use of syngeneic animals has resulted in the identification of tumour-associated or characteristic macromolecules ('antigens') in association with spontaneously occurring or experimentally induced tumours (Old and Boyse, 1964; Baldwin, 1970; Stonehill and Bendich, 1970). Many different types of human tumour, including colonic (Gold and Freedman, 1965a), ovarian (Levi, Keller, and Mandl, 1969), bronchial (Yachi, Matsuura, Carpenter, and Hyde, 1968), mammary (Edynak, Hirshaut, Old, and Trempe, 1971; Fossati, Canevari, Della Porta, Balzarini, and Veronesi, 1972) and bladder carcinomas (Bubenik, Perlmann, Helmstein, and Moberger, 1970), neuroblastoma (Hellstrom, Hellstrom, Pierce, and Bill, 1968), melanoma (Morton, Malmgren, Holmes, and Ketcham, 1968; Jehn, Nathanson, Schwartz, and Skumen, 1970), lymphoma (Smith, Klein, Klein, and Clifford, 1968; Klein, Clifford, Henle, Henle, Geering, and Old,1969; Buffe, Rimbaut, Lemerle, Schweisguth, and Burtin, 1970; Order, Porter, and Hellman, 1971), leukaemia (Harris et al, 1971; Halterman, Leventhal, and Mann, 1972), and sarcomas (Morton, Malmgren, Hall, and Schidlovsky, 1969; Wood and Morton, 1971) have also been shown to have tumourassociated antigens. Of particular interest has been the finding that 'embryo or fetal associated antigens' can be present in association with human (Gold and Freedman, 1965a; Tee, Wang, and Watkins, 1965; Yachi et al, 1968; Hakkinen, and Viikari, 1969; Abelev, 1971; Mesa-Tejada, and Weiss, 1971; Trouillas, 1971) and animal tumours (Brawn, 1970; Coggin, Ambrose, and Anderson,.1970; Duff and Rapp, 1970; Baldwin, Glaves, and Vose, 1972) and that they could be released into the body fluids.