Activity of Prostatic Cancer

Wehaveobservedthattheserumproteinsofpatientswithadvancedprostaticcancerrapidlyreturntoortowardnormalvaluesfollowingdeactivation oftheneoplasmbyanti-androgenicprocedures.Whilethereexistsavarietyofmethods,moreorlesssatifactory,forobservingthesechanges,perhapsnoneissosimpleorsousefulasthedetermination ofthelowestpercentage ofbloodserumtogelafterheatingunderstandardconditions.Theuseofthisassaymethodisthesubjectofthepresentpaper.Oneofthecentralproblemsinthechemotherapyofcanceristoobtainmethodsofmeasuringneoplasticactivity andtheeffectsofmedicinesthereon,withprecisionandsensitivity,preferablywithsimplicity.Advancedprostaticcarcinomaofmanispeculiarly adaptable forquantitativestudiesofactivityand,conversely,partialorcompleteinactivation ofthetumorbytherapeuticagents.Inthepastthisneoplasticactivitycouldbemeasuredbytwomodalitieswhichreflectedlocaleventsinandnearthecarcinoma.Whenthisneoplasmhasmetastasized, thelevelofacidphosphataseinserumisoftenincreased(3).Acommonsiteofmetastasisofthistumorisbonemarrow,atissuewhereintheneoplasmthrivesandusuallystimulates thegrowthofosteoblasts, whichprocessinturnresultsinanelevationofalkalinephosphatase (9)intheserum.Whenoneinvestigates(7)theseenzymaticlevelsinthebloodconcurrentlyoveraperiodofdays,hemeasurestherelativeproduction ofacidphosphatase bythemetastases(anactivityofthecancer)andtheresponseofadjacentnonmalignant bonetissuetothepresenceofthattumor(localreactivity ofnormalhostcells).Unlikethesemeasurements ofessentiallylocalchanges,albeitoccurringinmanyplaces,adetermination oftheleastpercentageofthermocoagulable proteinreflectstheover-all