Ascitic fluid from a patient with
carcinoma of the pancreas was fractionated by
ammonium sulfate precipitation. The fraction precipitated between 25 and 50% saturation of
ammonium sulfate was sequentially chromatographed on
Sephadex G-200 and
Sepharose 6B. A macromolecular fraction (greater than 10(6) daltons) obtained was found to react with both antihuman
IgM and antiserum to
carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA). This fraction was further purified by adsorption with
protein A-Sepharose CL-4B and chromatography on
DEAE-Sephacel. The purified macromolecular fraction had a sedimentation value of 28S as determined by ultracentrifugation. Upon dissociation of the purified macromolecule at pH 2.3 and purification of the dissociated components on
Sepharose CL-2B and BioGel A 1.5M, a 19S
protein and a 5S
protein were recovered. The 19S
protein showed a complete line of identity with a reference human
IgM when reacted with antihuman
IgM in gel diffusion, whereas the 5S
protein showed a partial immunologic identity with colon CEA against anti-CEA. These results indicated the existence of an
IgM-containing macromolecular complex with an anti-CEA cross-reactive substance in the extracellular fluid of human
pancreatic cancer.