Activities of deoxyribonuclease (DNase), ribonuclease (RNase), amylase, alkaline phosphatase and 5 nucleotidase were measured in tumor tissue, serum, cystic fluid and peritoneal fluid in patients with ovarian serous cystadenocarcinoma to investigate the possibility of using these enzymes as biochemical markers for the ovarian cancer. Proteins, RNase and amylase in serum of ovarian serous cystadenocarcinoma were isolated and fractionated by a DEAE-cellulose column chromatography and the chromatographic patterns were compared with those of control serum to find out the proteins and enzymes unique to the ovarian cancer.
1. In ovarian serous cystadenocarcinoma tissue, activities of acid RNase and amylase were significantly increased, but the´ activity of neutral RNase was decreased.
2. Neutral RNase activities in serum, cystic fluid and peritoneal fluid were unchang-ed in ovarian serous` cystadenoma, but significantly increased in. ovarian serous cystadenocarcinoma. The positive rates of neutral RNase activities in serum and cystic fluid as a marker for the ovarian cancer was relatively high in ovarian serous cystadenocarcinoma, and serum RNase activity was decreased toward normal level after surgical removal of the ovarian cancer tissues.
3. Activities and positive rates of amylase in serum, cystic fluid and peritoneal fluid were increased significantly in both ovarian serous cystadenoma and cystadenocar-cinoma, the degree of increment being greater in serous cystadenocarcinoma than in cystadenoma. Serum amylase activity was decreased following the surgical removal of the ovarian cancer tissues.
4. Serum 5´-nucleotidase activity was unchanged, but serum alkaline phosphatase activity was increased significantly in ovarian serous cystadenocarcinoma. The positive rate of serum alkaline phosphatase activity was, however, too low to be used as a biochemical marker for ovarian serous cystadenocarcinoma.
5. Neutral RNase and amylase in serum of ovarian serous cystadenocarcinoma were fractionated by a DEAE-cellulose column chromatography into two peaks respec-tively as was seen in control serum. Chromatographic patterns of the enzymes in serum of ovarian serous cystadenocarcinoma appeared to be different from those of control serum. On the other hand, serum acid RNase in ovarian serous cysta-denocarcinoma was separated into three peaks, one of, which i was not found in control serum.
These results suggested that (1) activities of acid DNase and amylase in ovarian tissue might be used as biochemical markers for ovarian serous cystadenocarcinoma and that (2) combination of use of neutral RNase and amylase activities in serum, cystic fluid and peritoneal fluid might be useful for confirming diagnosis and prognosis for the ovarian cancer. The results also indicated the possible existence of RNase and amylase specific to ovarian serous cystadenocarcinoma.
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