Serum samples from 72 patients with established carcinoma of the breast were investigated for ectopic presence of hPL. Further, the relationship of ectopically-secreted hPL and hCG-beta in breast cancer was investigated. Ten of 72 patients examined had detectable hPL and 12 had detectable hCG-beta, at 1-2 ng/ml serum sensitivity of the assay. The presence of hPL in serum of breast cancer patients was found to be independent of that of hCG-Beta. Sera of 13 patients with cystic mastitis, five with fibroadenoma, two with acute inflammation of breast, 20 normal women (non-pregnant) and 20 normal men did not show any detectable serum hPL or hCG-beta at the above mentioned sensitivity of the assay. Since these hormones were not detectable in normal men, normal non-pregnant women, and in patients having other pathological conditions of breast, the possible use of them as markers in cancer is expected

Summary.-Serum prolactin concentrations were measured by radioimmunoassays in 98 patients with established carcinoma of breast, 12 patients with cystic mastitis and 10 patients with gynaecomastia and compared with that of age matched normal control women. The serum prolactin levels in the patients with breast cancer, gynaecomastia or cystic mastitis were observed to be similar to that in normal women. It was interesting to note that the levels of prolactin in the Iuteal phase of the cycle were higher than that in the early follicular phase in normal women.

Natural killer (NK) cell activity and antibody dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) was measured in 62 untreated cervical carcinoma patients and 25 normal healthy women, using a short-term chromium release assay. A significant reduction in NK and ADCC activity was observed in disseminated disease than in localized disease, when compared with normal donors. The majority of the patients received radiotherapy and both NK and ADCC activity recovered after therapy. Furthermore, interferon-alpha was demonstrated to augment NK activity of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from healthy donors as well as patients. Also large granular lymphocytes separated on Percoll density gradient were the same in number in both the populations studied, although in cervical cancer there seemed to be a defect in killing activity.

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