This study suggests that the 80- to 115-kDa glycoproteins, which we had previously identified in pancreatic adenocarcinomas with NCA-specific mcAb DD9E7, are the result of aberrant glycosylation of the NCA-50 protein core following cell transformation.
NCA (nonspecific cross-reacting antigen), a glycoprotein found in normal lung and spleen, is immunologically related to carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), which is found in over 95% of colon adenocarcinomas.