Antiepithelial antibodies in the serum of patients with benign and malignant diseases of the prostate

Antinuclear antibodies and antibodies reactive with components of stratified squamous epithelium, e.g., intercellular (IC) areas, were observed in the serum of patients with benign prostatic hypertrophy, carcinoma of the prostate and in patients with carcinoma other than of the prostate by the method of indirect immunofluorescence (IF). The possible significance of IC antibodies in relation to their presence in patients with pemphigus and other conditions, and their coexistence in patients with pemphigus possessing other diseases, possibly of an autoimmunologic etiology, e.g., myasthenia gravis and systemic lupus erythematosus, particularly in the presence of a thymoma, is discussed relative to pathosis of the thymus. Furthermore, as IC antibodies may be of considerable diagnostic and prognostic value, the significance is stressed of the morphology of the IC IF staining patterns obtained in relation to the presence of blood group isohemagglutinins and antinuclear antibodies which give rise to false positive or false negative reactions on epithelial tissue.