Human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) is a placental protein whose ectopic secretion by nontrophoblast tumors has been claimed to be of clinical relevance. Serum levels of hCG were measured in 570 patients with breast disease. A double‐antibody radioimmunoassay (RIA) using antisera to hCG‐β was employed. Approximately 14% of patients with breast cancer were found to have elevated serum hCG levels. Such raised titers were not stage‐ or tumor‐type‐related, but occurred only in postmenopausal subjects. Further study showed that those patients with elevated hCG levels also had raised levels of human luteinizing hormone (hLH). Assay cross‐reactivity was shown to account for the “spurious” hCG elevations. An immunocytochemical study also failed to find hCG an ectopic breast tumor constituent and/or product. It is concluded that hCG is not produced by breast tumors and has no clinical utility.

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Introductioñ. any Women experience discomfort in the breast during their lifetime (Haagensen 197'1). .Ifferent conditions, including duct ectasia, cysts, fibroadenosis, fibroadenomata and car-ClUoma, may give rise to this symptom and have been well described by Preece et al. (1976). Prolactin was measured by homologous double antibody radioimmunoassay methods ISwas et al. 1976, Biswas & Rodeck 1976). The immunochemical human prolactin was §Pl i ed by the National Institute of Arthritis, Metabolism and Digestive Disease, Bethesda, A. Assays on all sera were performed in triplicate.