title: Adenosine deaminase activity in peripheral lymphocytes of patients with gynaecologic malignancies.
abstract: Peripheral lymphocyte adenosine deaminase (ADA) activity was assessed in a group of 31 patients with gynaecologic malignancies (19 with carcinoma of the portio, 7 with endometrial adenocarcinoma, 3 with ovarian cancer, 1 with adenocarcinoma of the cervix, 1 with liposarcoma myxoide). 30 female subjects, aged 30 to 70 years, were studied as the control group. Lymphocyte ADA activity in the 31 patients ranged from 0 to 7 U/10(7) cells with a mean of 2.3 U/10(7) cells (normal values: range 2-5 U/10(7) cells; mean 2.8 U/10(7) cells). In cases where the enzyme was absent or far below the controls, a faster evolution of the disease was observed. We would point out that lymphocyte ADA activity in the patients under investigations shows a broad range of variability. Our preliminary observations would suggest that lymphocyte ADA assessment in a larger series of cancer patients may add further prognostic informations.
mesh_terms: D000243:Adenosine Deaminase / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D005833:Genital Neoplasms, Female / Q000097:blood / Q000201:enzymology*; D006801:Humans; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000201:enzymology*; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009700:Nucleoside Deaminases / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D009700:Nucleoside Deaminases; D000243:Adenosine Deaminase