We investigated the total, free, and acetylated
polyamine concentrations in pancreatic tissue, serum, and urine of 20 patients with
pancreatic cancer, 30 healthy volunteers, and 40 patients with nonmalignant,
gastrointestinal diseases by reversed-phase liquid chromatography. Tissue concentrations in
carcinoma compared to histologically unaffected pancreas were significantly higher for
putrescine, elevated for
cadaverine, and nearly identical for
spermidine and
spermine, while N1-acetylspermidine was detectable in
cancer tissue only. With the exception of free
spermine in urine and total
spermine in serum, all other
polyamines were significantly elevated in the urine and serum of
cancer patients compared to healthy controls. These data support the concept that
polyamines play an important role in rapidly growing tissues. However, nonmalignant
gastrointestinal diseases partly showed similar elevations. Because of this low specificity,
polyamines are of little value only as diagnostic markers of
pancreatic carcinoma. Since
polyamine concentrations normalized in patients after curative operation while they were further elevated in patients with
tumor relapse or
metastases,
polyamines might play a clinical role in predicting therapeutic success or indicating relapse of the
tumor. A significant linear correlation of
polyamine concentrations and the size of the
tumor was found while a significant correlation to CEA, CA 19-9, and CA 125 or the presence of organ
metastases did not exist.