Proteins of human urine. II. Identification by two-dimensional electrophoresis of a new candidate marker for prostatic cancer.

A protein series common to the urine and prostatic tissue of 16 of 17 patients with prostatic adenocarcinoma has been identified by high-resolution two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. These proteins, designated PCA-1, have a relative molecular mass in sodium dodecyl sulfate of about 40000. Analyses of urines from eight age-matched controls, seven patients with other ty pes of urogenital malignancies, two patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia, and five patients with malignancies not associated with the urogenital system failed to show PCA-1 in the patterns. These preliminary findings suggest that this protein should be systematically investigated as a candidate marker for prostatic adenocarcinoma in man.