Enzyme Activity in Relation to Cancer

A CONNaECTION between the process of cell proliferation and the increase in tissue /-glucuronidase has been suggested by Kerr and Levvy (1947) and Levvy, Kerr and Campbell (1948). Fishman (1947) and McDonald and Odell (1947; Odell and McDonald, 1948) have investigated the changes of serum /-glucuronidase activity in human pregnancy and Fishman (1947), Fishman and Anlyan (1947a, 1947b) and Fishman, Anlyan and Gordon (1947) have shown that 13glucuronidase is present in enhanced amounts in human and animal cancer tissues. The /-glucuronidase activity of body fluids has been investigated by several workers in the hope of developing a method of diagnosis or prognosis of cancer. The /-glucuronidase activity of blood serum, ascitic and pleural fluids (Fishman, Markus, Page, Pfeiffer and Homburger, 1950), spinal and ventricular fluid (Anlyan and Starr, 1952) and of vaginal fluids (Fishman, Kasdon and Homburger, 1950) has been estimated in patients suffering from various forms of cancer especially cancer of the breast and cervix. Boyland, Wallace and Williams, (1955a, 1955b) have shown that cancer of the bladder is associated with high fl-glucuronidase levels in the urine, serum and bladder tissue. The present work deals with the urinary /-glucuronidase values of cases of cancer of sites other than the bladder. All the patients were in hospital, on balanced diets, and all the specimens were collected before any operative procedure was undertaken.