Lipotropin (LPH) has been evaluated as a potential
tumor marker using a sensitive
beta melanocyte-stimulating hormone (
beta MSH) radioimmunoassay. All 79
acetic acid extracts of
carcinomas of lung, colon, stomach, esophagus and breast contained LPH in concentrations greater than blood; 61 of 79 extracts contained LPH in larger amounts than control tissues from patients without
cancer. In a blind prospective study, plasma LPH was quantified in 107 patients admitted for work-up because of an abnormality on a chest roentgenogram. Thirty-one of 33 patients subsequently diagnosed as having benign lesions had plasma LPH within the 95 per cent confidence limits of normal subjects whereas 28 (36 per cent) of the 74 patients subsequently diagnosed histologically as having primary lung
carcinoma had elevated levels. In control studies, 13 of 100 patients with
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease had elevated plasma LPH levels; three of the 13 with elevated levels and four with normal levels have been diagnosed, during the two years of follow-up, as having lung
carcinoma. In control studies of 23 patients with granulomatous
lung disease, 22 had normal levels of LPH. In those with
carcinoma of the colon elevated plasma LPH levels were observed in two of 21 untreated patients and in 11 of 61 patients receiving noncurative
chemotherapy. Elevated plasma LPH levels were also observed in 10 of 59 patients with
breast cancer, eight of 28 with
pancreatic cancer, eight of 22 with gastric or
esophageal cancer, six of 16 with
renal cancer, four of eight with
prostatic cancer, one of seven with
cervical cancer and one of six with
ovarian cancer. We conclude, an elevated LPH level is frequently observed in blood and
tumor tissue from patients with various types of
carcinoma.