Seroflocculating Steroids. X. the Screening Method.

I N A PREVIOUS REPORT (1), a postulate based on chemical concepts was described which forms the basis of a study of certain steroids possessing seroflocculating properties. The primary objective of the research is the uncovering of a reagent to assist in the diagnosis of disease, perhaps for types of cancer. Secondarily, if that goal is not reached, a reagent suitable for use in a health clearance test might eventuate. The search for active flocculants has been facilitated through use of a fast, reliable screening test in which a new compound is compared with a standard seroflocculant of known structure on selected cancer and normal sera. The chemical synthesis of compounds has been reported in earlier reports (1-7), and in each screening results have been summarized. This communication consists primarily of a description of the screening method. The degree of reliability of the method was examined by rescreening 20 compounds, and these results are also presented.