Extracellular fluid volume in patients with cancer.
OBJECTIVE
Cancer patients may have extracellular fluid volume (ECV) abnormalities that potentially invalidate glomerular filtration rate (GFR) measured using the slope-intercept technique. The aim was to test this concern by measuring ECV in cancer patients in comparison with noncancer patients and healthy kidney donors.


METHODS
GFR was measured with Cr-EDTA and the slope-intercept technique in patients from two hospitals, the first using three samples (540 adults, including 382 with cancer, and 124 children, including 40 with cancer) and the second using four samples (256 adults, including 132 with cancer and 75 donors), scaled to body surface area (BSA) of 1.73 m and corrected using Brochner-Mortensen's equations (GFR/BSA). GFR/ECV was measured from the exponential rate constant with an appropriate one-compartment correction. ECV/BSA was calculated as the quotient, GFR/BSA:GFR/ECV. ECV was also expressed in adults in relation to lean body mass and in children as a fraction of ECV estimated from height and weight (eECV).


RESULTS
In men from both centres, neither ECV/BSA nor ECV/lean body mass showed an increase in cancer patients. In women from both centres, however, they were both significantly higher in cancer patients than in noncancer patients and, in centre 2, than in donors. In children from centre 1, ECV/BSA, but not ECV/eECV, was significantly higher in cancer patients.


CONCLUSIONS
ECV is expanded in female cancer patients but not male cancer patients. ECV may be expanded in children with cancer but the recorded difference in ECV/BSA is probably related to differences in patient size and a nonproportionate relationship between ECV and BSA.
Snelling
Hayley L R
HL
Department of Nuclear Medicine, Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton, UK.
Ciapryna
Myron B
MB
Bowles
Philippe F
PF
Glass
Daphne M
DM
Burniston
Maria T
MT
Peters
A Michael
AM
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D045604:Extracellular Fluid / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D005919:Glomerular Filtration Rate; D006801:Humans; D007668:Kidney / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D012016:Reference Values; D014019:Tissue Donors; D055815:Young Adult