In the present study activities of amylase, neutral ribonuclease (RNase) and alkaline phosphatase were determined in serum, cystic and ascitic fluids of patients with benign ovarian tumors, simple functional cyst, dermoid cyst, parovarian cyst, mucinous cystadenoma and serous cystadenoma and of patients with malignant tumors, Krukenberg´s tumor, mucinous cystadenocarcinoma and serous cystadenocarcinoma. Also determined were the positive rates of these enzyme activities to find out whether these enzyme levels could be used as diagnostic and prognostic markers for ovarian cancer.
1) As a tumor marker for ovarian cancer, the positive rate of serum amylase was high (above 80%) to the normal but low (below 30%) to the benign tumors, and the positive rates of serum neutral RNase were high to both the normal and the benign tumors. The results suggested that serum neutral RNase activity could be used as a diagnostic marker for ovarian cancer.
2) Significant changes in serum amylase activities before and after resections of tumor tissues were observed in serous cystadenocarcinoma but not in mucinous cystadenocarcinoma, and significant changes in serum neutral RNase activities before and after surgical removals of tumor tissues were found in both mucinous cystadenocar-cinoma and serous cystadenocarcinoma. These results indicated the possibility that serum neutral RNase activity could be used as a prognostic marker for ovarian cancer.
3) The positive rates of both amylase and neutral RNase activities in_ cystic fluids were high (75-100%) to the benign tumor as a tumor marker for serous cystadenocar-cinoma, but low (14%) for mucinous cystadenocarcinoma. The results indicated that both amylase and neutral RNase activities in cystic fluids could be used as a diagnostic marker for serous cystadenocarcinoma.
4) As a tumor marker for ovarian cancer, the positive rates of alkaline phosphatase in serum and both amylase and neutral RNase activities in ascitic fluids were con-siderably low to the benign tumors, suggesting that these enzyme activities could not be used as markers for ovarian cancer.
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