Autoantibodies in patients with carcinoma of the breast. Correlation with prognosis.

Sera from a hundred patients with operable carcinoma of the breast and seventy-five age-matched controls were examined for antinuclear, smooth muscle, glomerular and mitochondrial antibodies by indirect immunofluorescence technique. Antinuclear and smooth muscle antibodies were found to be more frequent in cancer patients than in controls. The incidence of autoantibodies at the time the diagnosis was established was higher in patients who developed local recurrences or distant metastases within 2 years than in patients free from recurrence.