Measurement of prostaglandin F2alpha levels in cerebrospinal fluid of febrile and afebrile patients with advanced cancer.

Prostaglandin F2alpha levels were measured by radioimmunoassay in 95 samples of unextracted human cerebrospinal fluid obtained from 73 patients with advanced cancer. Concentrations of PGE were too low to be reliably determined by this method using the commercially available kits. Forty-six of the samples assayed contained less than 25pg/ml PGF2alpha. The remaining levels ranged from 25 to 1154 pg/ml c.s.f.; the majority contained less than 200pg/ml. A possible correlation was found between elevated c.s.f. granulocyte count and increased PGF2alpha. A similar relationship was found with regard to protein. These studies failed to demonstrate a correlation between elevated levels of PGF2alpha in cerebrospinal fluid and any pathophysiologic condition.