Alkaline phosphatase measurements of paired normal and osteosarcoma tissue culture lines obtained from the same patient.

Markedly different levels of alkaline phosphatase production have been found in paired osteosarcoma cells and normal skin fibroblasts grown in tissue culture from 12 patients with osteosarcoma. In all cases, the osteosarcoma line contains significantly more alkaline phosphatase than does the paired normal line from that same patient. These criteria may be useful in distinguishing osteosarcoma from normal fibroblast overgrowth in tissue culture.