Urinary polyamine levels in patients with gastrointestinal malignancy.

Polyamine levels (putrescine, spermidine, and spermine) were determined in 24-hour urine samples by a high voltage electrophoresis technique. Eleven of 14 patients with widespread metastatic gastrointestinal cancer had two or more elevated polyamine values. Two patients with cancer confined to the colon and two with cancer spread within the pelvis had two or more elevated polyamine values. Three patients who had all known disease removed by surgery, two patients with gastric lymphoma, and one patient with a vilous adenoma of the colon had normal values. Individual values of spermidine and spermine appeared to be elevated more frequently than putrescine values in these patients.