Enzymes of glucose metabolism in carcinoma of the cervix and endometrium of the human uterus.

Twelve enzymes related to the direct oxidative and glycolytic pathways of glucose metabolism were assayed in 88 cancers of the cervix and 48 cancers of the endometrium of the human uterus, and the activities compared with those obtained from a group of control tissues. Significant increases for all but one of the enzymes studied (alpha-glycerolphosphate dehydrogenase) were found in cancer of the cervix, when compared with normal cervix epithelium. Hexokinase, phoshofructokinase, and aldolase appear to be rate-limiting in normal cervix epithelium; however, since the increase in activity of the first two in cancers was least of all the glycolytic enzymes, redundant enzyme synthesis probably occurs in the malignant cell for the enzymes catalysing reversible reactions. There was virtually no correlation between the activity of any enzyme measured in the cancer sample and histological assessments of the degree of malignancy of the tumour, or the clinical stage of the disease. All enzymes except pyruvate kinase had significantly higher activity in normal endometrium than in normal cervix epithelium, presumably reflecting the greater metabolic requirements of the former tissue. Only phosphoglucose isomerase and pyruvate kinase were significantly higher in endometrial cancer than in normal endometrium, and there were few significant differences between cancers of the cervix and of the endometrium, despite the marked differences in their tissues of origin. These results suggest the changes occur during malignant transformation to the activities of both regulatory enzymes and those catalysing reversible reactions, in a manner justifying the conclusion that the general metabolism of tumours is convergent.