Urine of Patients with Malignant Pancreatic and Biliary Fragment of Human Choriogonadotropin in the Serum

Human Choriogonadotropin (hCG), its free /} subunit (£fh( '(>), and the core ,(h( (. fragment (c/3hCG) were measured by highly sensitive timeresolved immunofluorometric assays in the serum and urine of 29 pa tients with pancreatic cancer, 7 patients with biliary cancer, and 45 patients with benign pancreatic or biliary diseases. The results were compared with those of an ageand sex-matched reference population of nonpregnant women and men. Of the various forms of hCG assayed in serum, /?hCG showed the best diagnostic accuracy, and c/3hCG was the best marker in urine. Elevated serum concentrations of /ShCG were observed in 72% of the patients with pancreatic cancer, in 6 of 7 patients with biliary cancer, and in 9% of those with benign disorders. The serum concentrations of c/3hCG were elevated in 45%, 57%, and 2%, respec tively, and those in urine in 55%, 71%, and 11%, respectively. The molar concentrations of c/JhCG in serum were mostly lower than those of ,1M (,. Thus i;h< (i secreted into serum appears to be the main source of c/ShCG in urine. Provided that they are measured by sufficiently sensi tive and specific assays, ßhCGin serum and c/ShCG in urine appear to be useful markers for pancreatic and biliary cancer.