Serum deoxyribonuclease and ribonuclease in pancreatic cancer and chronic pancreatitis.

Serum ribonuclease (RNase) and deoxyribonuclease (DNase) were investigated in 18 control subjects, and in 22 patients with pancreatic cancer, 13 with chronic pancreatitis and 29 with extrapancreatic diseases in order to assess their clinical usefulness in pancreatic cancer diagnosis and to evaluate whether modifications were consensual and/or age-related. Increased DNase and RNase values were found not only in a notable proportion of pancreatic cancer, but also in chronic pancreatitis and extra-pancreatic diseases. Thus the clinical value of both enzymes in pancreatic cancer diagnosis is negligible. DNase does not seem to be strictly age-dependent, whereas serum RNase does. Elevated levels of the two enzymes, when present, were consensual, suggesting that factors involved in such an increase were partially common to both.