Chemical tests for malignancy.

Abstract

10 ' 3S we have shown that alterations do occur in the quality of the dehydrogenase activity of the liver and kidney. 9 In a clinical study of various liver functions in patients with and without gastrointestinal cancer, the Memorial Hospital Group found that the presence of malignancy was associated with marked alteration in hepatic function, although no direct metastatic in­ volvement of the liver had occurred. 1 ' 354 6 Further, they observed that these changes appeared to be reversible after resection of the tumor. On the basis of these findings they indicated that hepatic insufficiency is a concomitant phe­ nomenon in the presence of gastrointestinal cancer. A similar study of patients with and without breast carcinoma failed to reveal any significant difference in liver function. 42 An effect upon the carbohydrate metabolism of hepatic tissue is indicated by the observation that the hepatic glycogen of cancer patients is not elevated by the oral or parenteral administration of glucose, although the fasting blood sugar, hepatic glycogen and glucose tolerance curves of such patients are not essentially altered from those of normal controls. It is notable that the defect in glycogen synthesis can be at least partially corrected by the administration of adrenal cortical extract. Evaluation of the enzyme activity of the liver of the tumor-bearing host re­ veals that at least three enzymes undergo a reduction in activity with the devel­ opment of a tumor. This decrease in activity, which tends to vary inversely with the size of the tumor, occurs in catalase, d-amino-acid oxidase and arginase. 20 While similar enzyme alterations are also found to occur in the kidney of the tumor-bearing animal, such changes are not as marked in this organ. Perhaps the most striking change induced in the liver by the tumor is in pro