Immunologic studies of normal, benign, and malignant human prostatic tissue

Specifically absorbed heteroimmune sera to saline extracts of normal, benign, and malignant human prostatic tissue have been employed in an attempt to facilitate comparative studies of the antigenic composition of these tissues through the utilization of the adjunct specificity of antigen‐antibody interaction in gel diffusion precipitation and enzymatic analysis. Results of such studies suggest that benign and malignant human prostatic tissues are antigenically deficient in comparison to normal human prostatic tissue, i.e., normal prostatic tissue‐specific antigens may either be present in reduced concentrations or may be absent. It is proposed that this deficiency of normal prostatic tissue‐specific antigens, possibly occurring as a consequence of the as yet unknown pathogenesis of benign prostatic hypertrophy and carcinoma of the prostate, may be of prognostic value pending further investigation.