[Salivary lysozyme in the screening for stomach cancer]

The study was concerned with measurement of lysozyme activity of saliva in healthy subjects and patients with different pathologies of the stomach including precancer and cancer. It established a considerable decrease in this parameter in cancer and precancer as compared with healthy controls. Assay of saliva lysozyme activity was found to yield more specific and prognostic data than clinical symptoms and examination of the patient. This procedure proved highly valuable in forming groups at risk for stomach cancer, due to providing significant differences in saliva lysozyme activity indices between "healthy subjects--stomach pathology" and "precancer--precancerous changes--stomach cancer" groups.