Serum lysozyme as a marker of host resistance. II. Patients with malignant melanoma, hypernephroma or breast carcinoma.

Serum lysozyme activity was measured in groups of untreated patients with malignant melanoma, hyperneophroma and breast carcinoma. Significant elevation of serum levels of the enzyme was confined to patients with localized disease. In the presence of metastatic disease such elevation was not detected. The rise in serum lysozyme activity was not due to renal damage or any infective process and in the case of malignant melanoma was shown to be associated with infiltration of the tumour mass by macrophages. In vitro studies demonstrated that the macrophages resident in a tumour mass are responsible for relasing lysozyme in large amounts. It is proposed that the elevation of serum lysozyme in these cases may be an indicator of macrophage-mediated host resistance and that the measurement of macrophage products such as lysozyme in the extracellular fluid may under well defined conditions provide useful clinical information concerning host reactions.