We used an enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assay to measure creatine kinase (CK; EC 2.7.3.2) BB in the sera of 58 cancer patients. A pre-incubation step with an anti-CK-M antibody-coated bead removed M chain components, and CK-BB was quantified with use of an anti-CK-B antibody-coated tube. No cross reactivity was observed with mitochondrial CK or CK-MM; CK-MB cross reacted slightly (1.6%). Macro CK type 1 was measured as CK-BB. Average analytical recovery of purified CK-BB added to serum was 97.7%. Although the enzyme activity of CK-BB is labile, our studies show that this protein is antigenically stable for 12 months when stored frozen. The upper limit of normal for CK-BB concentration was 0.3 micrograms/L (95th percentile, n = 25). Of the 20 cases of breast cancer of various stages, none showed any increases of serum CK-BB. Only two of 18 patients with prostatic carcinoma (stage D), and two of 10 patients with oat-cell carcinoma of the lung had increased concentrations of CK-BB in the serum. Ten patients with squamous cell cancer of the lung had normal concentration of the enzyme. Thus the CK-BB isoenzyme is not frequently increased in cancers of the prostate, lung, and breast, and it has little apparent value as a tumor marker for these diseases.