Carcinoembryonic proteins in gastric carcinoma metastatic to the liver

Two cases of liver metastases from gastric carcinoma are described in which the simultaneous occurrences of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and carcinoplacental alkaline phosphatase (CPALP) were demonstrated in the sera and tumor tissues. AFP was detected not only in the tumor tissues but also in the liver tissue adjacent to the tumor, while the other 2 carcinoembryonic proteins were not detected in the non cancerous liver tissues. The characteristics of CPALP in Case 1 were almost similar to the Nagao isoenzyme, based on enzyme tests involving L-leucine, L-phenylalanine and EDTA inhibitions, heat-stability and Michaelis constant, except for electrophoretical slower moving, while that in Case 2 were identical to variant type CPALP (Warnock).