acid-phosphatase and Pancreatic-Neoplasms

A 58-year-old man was revealed to have multiple liver tumors with elevated prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP) during a medical examination. The tumors were of neuroendocrine nature, but no abnormal findings were obtained in other organs in which neuroendocrine tumors develop frequently. Repeated transarterial embolization was partially effective. However, the tumors became resistant to the therapy three years later, continued growing and ruptured. Autopsy disclosed neuroendocrine tumors in the pancreas, which were immunohistologically positive for PAP. Neuroendocrine tumors of the pancreas and liver producing PAP are rare; this case is reported with a review of literature.

Topics: Acid Phosphatase; Carcinoma, Neuroendocrine; Fatal Outcome; Humans; Liver Neoplasms; Male; Middle Aged; Pancreatic Neoplasms; Prostate

A summary is presented of those organ specific enzyme assays traditionally used in evaluation of the patient with cancer. In addition, the use of certain serum enzymes such as gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase, phosphohexose isomerase or 5'-nucleotidase as aids in following the course of the disease, particularly in patients with metastatic spread to the liver is outlined. Also considered is the utility of enzyme analysis in biopsy tissue, biologic fluids, and washings of body cavities. Newer enzymes are considered which might, in the future, be developed as diagnostic tools or as probes for the understanding of the etiology of cancer.

Topics: Acid Phosphatase; Alkaline Phosphatase; Amylases; Aryl Hydrocarbon Hydroxylases; Bone Neoplasms; Clinical Enzyme Tests; gamma-Glutamyltransferase; Humans; Isoenzymes; Isomerases; Leucyl Aminopeptidase; Lipase; Liver Neoplasms; Lung Neoplasms; Male; Muramidase; Neoplasms; Nucleotidases; Oxidoreductases; Pancreatic Neoplasms; Prostatic Neoplasms; Sulfatases

Topics: 17-Hydroxycorticosteroids; 17-Ketosteroids; Acid Phosphatase; Adrenal Gland Neoplasms; Alkaline Phosphatase; Amino Acids; Amylases; Bone Neoplasms; Breast Neoplasms; Carcinoid Tumor; Catecholamines; Chorionic Gonadotropin; Clinical Enzyme Tests; Clinical Laboratory Techniques; Female; Glucose-6-Phosphate Isomerase; Humans; Hydroxyindoleacetic Acid; L-Lactate Dehydrogenase; Liver Neoplasms; Male; Neoplasms; Neoplasms, Nerve Tissue; Neuroblastoma; Nucleotidases; Pancreatic Neoplasms; Pheochromocytoma; Pregnancy; Prostatic Neoplasms; Trophoblastic Neoplasms; Vanilmandelic Acid

A woman aged 56 years developed 2 synchronous tumours: one, 1.2 cm in diameter at the head of the pancreas; and the other, 4.0 cm in diameter, at the left side of her horseshoe kidney. Preoperative differential diagnosis of these hypovascular lesions included pancreatic ductal carcinoma (PDC) with renal metastasis, PDC with renal angiomyolipoma, renal cell carcinoma with pancreatic metastasis or PDC and renal cell carcinoma. Following pancreaticoduodenectomy and left nephrectomy, both specimens were diagnosed as grade 2 neuroendocrine tumours (NETs). Immunohistochemistry revealed that both were positive for prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP), which is specific to hindgut-derived NET, including renal NET. Accordingly, the renal tumour was diagnosed as the primary lesion, and the pancreatic tumour as a metastasis. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of a renal NET with a synchronous pancreas metastasis. Immunohistochemical staining for PAP was a useful diagnostic marker for synchronous NETs in the kidney and pancreas.

Topics: Acid Phosphatase; Female; Fused Kidney; Humans; Kidney Neoplasms; Middle Aged; Nephrectomy; Neuroendocrine Tumors; Pancreatic Neoplasms; Pancreaticoduodenectomy

Current therapy for pancreatic cancer is multimodal, involving surgery and chemotherapy. However, development of pancreatic cancer therapies requires a thorough evaluation of drug efficacy in vitro before animal testing and subsequent clinical trials. Compared to two-dimensional culture of cell monolayer, three-dimensional (3-D) models more closely mimic native tissues, since the tumor microenvironment established in 3-D models often plays a significant role in cancer progression and cellular responses to the drugs. Accumulating evidence has highlighted the benefits of 3-D in vitro models of various cancers. In the present study, we have developed a spheroid-based, 3-D culture of pancreatic cancer cell lines MIAPaCa-2 and PANC-1 for pancreatic drug testing, using the acid phosphatase assay. Drug efficacy testing showed that spheroids had much higher drug resistance than monolayers. This model, which is characteristically reproducible and easy and offers rapid handling, is the preferred choice for filling the gap between monolayer cell cultures and in vivo models in the process of drug development and testing for pancreatic cancer.

Topics: Acid Phosphatase; Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic; Cell Culture Techniques; Cell Line, Tumor; Cell Survival; Deoxycytidine; Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor; Fluorouracil; Gemcitabine; Humans; Pancreatic Neoplasms; Spheroids, Cellular

The macroscopic, light microscopic and ultrastructural findings in a case of pancreatoblastoma in a neonate are presented. No evidence for exocrine or endocrine secretion could be found by histochemistry, immunocytochemistry or electron microscopy. However, enzyme histochemical techniques to localize activity of 'glucose-6-phosphatase', acid phosphatase, esterase and esteroprotease supported both a pancreatic origin for the tumour and a biphasic pattern of differentiation.

Topics: Acid Phosphatase; Clinical Enzyme Tests; Esterases; Glucose-6-Phosphatase; Histocytochemistry; Humans; Immunoenzyme Techniques; Infant, Newborn; Male; Microscopy, Electron; Pancreatic Neoplasms; Serine Endopeptidases

A 57-year-old man with generalized, subcutaneous fat necrosis was found at autopsy to have islet cell carcinoma of the pancreas. The histologic diagnosis of islet cell carcinoma was confirmed by the finding by electron microscopy of characteristic intracytoplasmic granules within pancreatic neoplastic cells. Lipase levels were elevated in serum as well as in tissues in areas of subcutaneous fat necrosis. Enzyme histochemical stains for alkaline and acid phosphatase, leucine, aminopeptidase, succinic dehydrogenase, and indoxyl and nonspecific esterase were positive in the areas of subcutaneous fat necrosis. This is the first report of the association of islet cell carcinoma of the pancreas with generalized subcutaneous fat necrosis.

Topics: Acid Phosphatase; Adenoma, Islet Cell; Alkaline Phosphatase; Fat Necrosis; Humans; Leucyl Aminopeptidase; Lipase; Liver Neoplasms; Male; Middle Aged; Pancreatic Neoplasms; Skin; Succinate Dehydrogenase

The immunologic specificity of human prostatic acidphosphatase has been established by several previous investigations as well as in this study. An apparent exception to this specificity was observed--a case of pancreatic islet cell carcinoma metastasized to the liver produced acid phosphatase that was immunologically indistinguishable from the prostatic acid phosphatase. In this case, the possibility of prostatic involvement was convincingly ruled out by clinical follow-ups and by postmortem pathologic studies. Highly purified prostatic acid phosphatase and this tumor acid phosphatase exhibited very similar Km values and identical molecular weights. Immunochemical analysis of the two enzymes using antiprostatic acid phosphatase sera showed that enzymes are antigenically identical. The implications of our observation are discussed in relation to clinical application of immunoassays for prostatic phosphatase in the future and to the molecular basis of human acid phosphatase polymorphism.

Topics: Acid Phosphatase; Adenoma, Islet Cell; Adult; Humans; Liver Neoplasms; Male; Neoplasm Metastasis; Pancreatic Neoplasms; Prostate

Topics: Acid Phosphatase; Bronchial Neoplasms; Carcinoma; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Neoplasm Metastasis; Pancreas; Pancreatic Neoplasms; Tartrates

Topics: Acid Phosphatase; Adult; Aged; Alanine Transaminase; Alkaline Phosphatase; Aspartate Aminotransferases; Biliary Tract Diseases; Estradiol Dehydrogenases; Female; Humans; Liver; Male; Middle Aged; Neuroleptanalgesia; Pancreatic Neoplasms; Peptic Ulcer; Transketolase

Topics: Abdominal Muscles; Acid Phosphatase; Aged; Cachexia; Carcinoma; Cathepsins; Female; Gallbladder Diseases; Gastrointestinal Neoplasms; Humans; Kidney Neoplasms; Liver Neoplasms; Lymphatic Metastasis; Lysosomes; Male; Melanoma; Middle Aged; Muscles; Neoplasms; Pancreatic Neoplasms; Peptic Ulcer

Topics: Acid Phosphatase; Alkaline Phosphatase; Bilirubin; Colonic Neoplasms; Esophageal Neoplasms; Humans; Kidney Neoplasms; Leukemia, Myeloid; Liver Neoplasms; Lung Neoplasms; Lymphoma, Large B-Cell, Diffuse; Male; Neoplasms; Pancreatic Neoplasms; Phosphatidylcholines; Phosphatidylethanolamines; Phosphatidylinositols; Phospholipids; Prostatic Neoplasms; Rectal Neoplasms; Sphingolipids; Stomach Neoplasms; Thyroid Neoplasms; Triglycerides; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms

Topics: Acid Phosphatase; Adenocarcinoma; Biopsy; Carcinoma, Bronchogenic; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell; Colorimetry; Esophageal Neoplasms; Female; Gastrointestinal Neoplasms; Hodgkin Disease; Humans; Intestinal Neoplasms; Laryngeal Neoplasms; Leucyl Aminopeptidase; Leukemia; Liver Neoplasms; Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin; Male; Melanoma; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms; Neoplasms; Pancreatic Neoplasms; Prostatic Neoplasms; Tongue Neoplasms; Urogenital Neoplasms

Topics: Acid Phosphatase; Bile Duct Neoplasms; Geriatrics; Jaundice; Jaundice, Obstructive; Liver Diseases; Pancreatic Neoplasms

Topics: Acid Phosphatase; Alanine Transaminase; Alkaline Phosphatase; Amylases; Aspartate Aminotransferases; Breast Neoplasms; Clinical Enzyme Tests; Colonic Neoplasms; D-Alanine Transaminase; Humans; L-Lactate Dehydrogenase; Lipase; Lung Neoplasms; Male; Pancreatic Neoplasms; Stomach Neoplasms; Testicular Neoplasms