抄録
1. Ribonuclease (RNase) activities were serially measured in the serum and urine of 231 patients with carcinoma of the digestive organs and other diseases before and during treatment of surgical or conservative means.
2. There was not found a definite correlation between the serum RNase level and the urine enzyme activity, but the concentration of urine RNase was generally increased in accordance with the elevation in the serum ribonucleae activity. Patients with neoplastic diseases usually presented an elevation of RNase levels either in the serum or in the urine.
3. in patients with benign gastric or biliary diseases, serum RNase levels were usually within normal limits, and profound surgery of these organs demonstrated little alteration in the concentration of serum rbonuclease.
4. RNase values were often elevated in cancer patients, and the enzyme activity was extremely high in all the cases of those with cancer of the bile duct or gall bladder. Elevations were seen in 36, 2 and 27, 3 per cent of sera samples from those with carcinoma of the stomach and esophagus, respectively, whereas the incidence and degree of abnormal levels were less marked in those carcinoma of the pancreas, colon, and rectum.
5. RNase activity in patients with neoplastic diseases was usually decreased after radical operation in comparison with preoperative values. A follow-up investigation was conducted for months into the enzyme level changes among those with advanced malignancies, who were treated conservatively, showing the fluctuation or increased activity of the enzyme during this period in many instances, A rapid and marked increase of RNase activity was frequently noted when the disease was entering the rapid progressive phase.
6. Serum and urine RNase activity was significantly decreased during the entire course of therapeutic X-ray irradiation to the human subject which followed radical resection of carcinoma of the breast or rectum, Inoperable cancer patients responded to the irradiation with variable activities. Those inoperable with clinical improvement, however, showed some decrease of RNase levels during this period.
7. In patients with cancer of the stomach and breast, postoperative chemotherapy resulted in a marked decline in RNase activity compared with control values, Tumor-bearing patients also showed a decreasing tendency in enzyme activity following this therapy, but this effect did not last beyond the period of 5 or 6 weeks of chemotherapy.
8. The incidence of serum RNase elevations was significantly higher in patients with impaired hepatic function than in those with normal liver function, In general, there was a considerable correlation between the blood RNase level and the activity of whole liver homogenate obtained at laparotomy in 24 patients with malignant and non-malignant diseases.
9. Mild to moderate RNase elevations were observed in many patients with marked hypoproteinemia as well as in those with depressed albumin globulin ratio, and the enzyme activity usually rose to higher levels as this value decreased, The blood RNase activity was also extremely raised in patients with raised serum urea nitrogen.
10. There was little correlation between the serum RNase level and the serum LDH activity, although RNase elevations were found in half of the patients with increased LDH values, The high incidence of serum RNase elevations in patients with hepatobiliary diseases appeared to be comparable to the frequency of elevations in the serum LAP activity of the same patients.
