Bone marrow and acid phosphatase by counterimmune electrophoresis: pre-treatment and post-treatment correlations.

The value of bone marrow acid phosphatase in the staging of prostatic cancer has been a controversial issue. A number of investigators have concluded that the enzymatic determinations of bone marrow acid phosphatase are inaccurate because of lack of specificity. The introduction of the immune methods for measuring acid phosphatase has revived interest in the role of immune bone marrow acid phosphatase in pre-treatment staging. Fifty-five patients underwent determination of simultaneous immune bone marrow and serum acid phosphatase before any treatment. While positive values did predict a risk for initial and subsequent metastasis they could not be used to dictate against definitive therapy. Positive bone marrow values were paralleled by positive serum values and provided no additional staging information.