Method for diagnosing malignant gliol brain tumors

A method for diagnosing malignant glial brain tumors which comprises:

• a. dividing a sample of body fluid into a first and second aliquot;
• b. contacting said first aliquot with a complex of Malignin and an inert carrier for about two hours to allow protein to bind to said complex;
• c. separating from said first aliquot said complex and the protein bound to it;
• d. cleaving the bound protein from said complex;
• e. quantitatively determining the amount of protein cleaved from said complex;
• f. contacting said second aliquot with a complex of Malignin and an inert carrier for about 10 minutes to allow protein to bind to said complex;
• g. separating from said second aliquot said complex and the protein bound to it;
• h. cleaving the bound protein from said complex;
• i. quantitatively determining the amount of protein cleaved from said complex;
• j. comparing the amount of protein determined in step e, above, with that determined in step i, above;
• and correlating the difference between the two amounts with a predetermined standard value indicative of the glial brain tumor,
• wherein said Malignin is a product derived from brain tumor cells, which forms a single line precipitate with its specific antibody in quantitative precipitin tests and in Ouchterlony gel diffusion tests, is soluble in water and aqueous solutions having an acid or neutral pH, and insoluble at an alkaline pH, and has a spectrophotometric absorption peak wave length of 280 mu, a molecular weight of about 10,000 and an amino acid composition approximately as follows:
• ______________________________________ Approx. No. of Residues ______________________________________ Aspartic Acid 9 Threonine 5 Serine 5 Glutamic Acid 13 Proline 4 Glycine 6 Alanine 7 Valine 6 1/2 Cystine 1 Methionine 2 Isoleucine 4 Leucine 8 Tryosine 3 Phenylalanine 3 Lysine 6 Histidine 2 Arginine 5 Approximate Total 89 ______________________________________
• the amino acids cysteic, hydroxyproline, norleucine, ammonia, isodesmosine, hydroxylysine, lysinonorleucine and gammaaminobutyric acid being absent in detectable amounts.