Tyrosinase activity in the sera of patients with malignant melanoma: method and specificity.

Serum tyrosinase activity has been measured by adapting the [3]tyrosine assay for tyrosinase and significant elevations of serum tyrosinase activity were found in patients with malignant melanoma. In contrast to findings in a study which utilized [14C]tyrosine, augmented levels of tyrosinase activity were not observed in sera from patients with other malignancies, including subjects with carcinoma of the breast. The results of the examinations for soluble tyrosinase activity in human malignant melanoma tissue-cultured lines were all positive, whereas human cell lines from carcinoma of the breast, carcinoma of the colon and sarcoma uniformly showed no activity. The method employed for detecting tyrosinase activity holds promise as a specific diagnostic test and may be valuable for monitoring the response to clinical treatment of patients with malignant melanoma.