[Changes in plasma, erythrocytes and tissue polyamine levels in patients with colorectal cancer]

Polyamines (putrescine, spermidine, spermine) are closely linked to cellular synthesis of DNA, RNA and protein, and are thought to be an indicator of cell proliferation. Plasma, erythrocytes and tissue polyamine levels in 58 patients with colorectal cancer were measured to survey the relationship between polyamines and stage classification. The polyamine levels of plasma, erythrocytes and tissue in patients were increased significantly compared with those of controls. Plasma spermine and erythrocytes spermidine and spermine levels were increased with the advance of stage. In plasma and erythrocytes, spermidine/spermine ratios were decreased in accordance with the stages. On the contrary, the polyamine levels and the ratio in cancer tissue were not varied in all stages. These results present the following conclusions. Although cancer tissue has higher proliferative activity than normal mucosa, these activities of main tumors in each stage are not fluctuated. The polyamine levels in plasma and erythrocytes are possibly influenced by tumor burden and therefore those could be an useful marker for indicating the stage of colorectal cancer.