Fetal proteins found in small amounts in adults in the following forms: α-f. (AFP) increases in maternal blood during pregnancy and, when detected by amniocentesis, is an important indicator of open neural tube defects and is also used as a tumor marker in adults (see definition below); β-f., although a fetal liver protein, has been detected in adult patients with liver disease; γ-f. occurs in various neoplasms. SEE ALSO: fetoglobulins.
- α fetoprotein a protein normally produced during the 12th to 15th week of gestation, decreasing thereafter, but appearing in the blood in certain tumors, such as embryonal carcinomas of the testis and ovary, hepatoma, and less often in patients with carcinomas of the pancreas, stomach, colon, or lung. When present, a useful marker in following the course of a tumor.
Medical dictionary. 2011.