An antigen identified by two monoclonal anti-colorectal cancer antibodies was studied in sera of 85 patients who had a resection of their primary colorectal cancer. Preoperative and postoperative serum samples and sera collected every 3 months for at least 1 year were included in this study. The levels of these antigens were compared to the carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels. Sixty-six patients had at least one antigen elevated in the preoperative period. Malignancy recurred in 10 patients. In 8 of these the recurrence could have been predicted by the persistence or rise in antigen levels 3 to 18 months prior to the detection of the recurrence by current clinical methods. The data suggest that the assays for these antigens are valuable prognostic aids for making clinical therapeutic decisions and appropriately stratifying patients for clinical trials.
Bilateral primary breast cancers occur commonly enough to justify adoption of special pre- and post-initial therapy screening. A 13.2% incidence of bilateral breast carcinoma has been found in the breast cancer patients who presented to the Fox Chase Cancer Center with an operatively manageable primary in an arbitrarily defined 30-month period and who have been followed for at least 20 months thereafter. Of the 287 patients seen in those 30 months, 4.5% had synchronously detectable lesions. Xeroradiography is helpful in the initial and follow-up evaluation of the patient for detection of a second primary and may lead to the discovery of an earlier-stage lesion. A history of a family member having a breast cancer was shown to be significant, 26% and 24% for primary and secondary relatives, respectively, and warrant a special screening strategy. Recognition of these factors may lead to earlier detection of curable breast cancers.
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