Nature 228, 370 - 372 (24 October 1970); doi:10.1038/228370a0

Retrogenetic Expression: the Reappearance of Embryonal Antigens in Cancer Cells

ELLIOTT H. STONEHILL & AARON BENDICH

Division of Cell Biochemistry, Sloan–Kettering Institute for Cancer Research, New York, NY 10021.

VARIOUS reports of embryonal antigens in extracts of tumour tissues have appeared since 1932 (refs. 1–9). Such antigens, absent from homologous normal tissues, have been detected in colonic⁶, hepatic⁷ and lung cancers⁸. These findings stimulated a study of the possible universal appearance of embryonic antigens in cancer tissues.

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