RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Polyamines in colorectal cancer--a clinical and experimental approach.
JF Journal of Clinical Pathology
JO J Clin Pathol
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and Association of Clinical Pathologists
SP 508
OP 510
DO 10.1136/jcp.36.5.508
VO 36
IS 5
A1 R Carachi
A1 J G Beeley
YR 1983
UL http://jcp.bmj.com/content/36/5/508.abstract
AB The urinary polyamines putrescine, spermidine and spermine were measured prior to operation in 10 patients with colorectal cancer and 10 control subjects. Carcinoembryonic antigen assays were also performed in an attempt to correlate these values with polyamine excretion. The total polyamine rates in patients with colorectal cancer were 3.2 +/- 1.5 (SD) mg/24 h and 2.6 +/- 1.2 (SD) mg/24 h in the controls. The difference between the group with colorectal cancer and the controls was not statistically significant. Urinary polyamines were also measured in an experimental animal model for colorectal cancer in which tumour cell mass could be assessed. Only marginal differences occurred in polyamine rates between animals with extensive tumours and controls. These findings suggest that urinary polyamine measurement is unlikely to be a useful procedure to assess tumour cell mass in patients with colorectal cancer.