Alkaline phosphatases in neoplastic diseases.

The results of determination of the activity of the liver and bone serum alkaline phosphatase isoenzyme were in complete agreement with the clinical, laboratory and gamma-radiographic findings in all 62 examined patients with neoplastic liver metastases and with the same findings in 36 out of 38 patients with bone metastases. Determination of the bone isoenzyme concurred with the radionuclear findings in 27 out of 30 patients. Thermostable serum alkaline phosphatase variants were evaluated in 136 patients. They were found in 8 out of 40 patients with a lung carcinoma and in 8 out of 13 with a primary hepatocellular carcinoma. The findings were correlated with the presence of alpha-1 fetoprotein in the serum. A thermostable variant corresponding to the Nagao isoenzyme was evaluated biochemically in a patient with a stomach carcinoma.