Serum glycolytic enzymes in breast carcinoma

Serum levels of lactate dehydrogenase and its isoenzymes, phosphohexos isomerase, aldolase and hexokinase were determined in 152 cases of breast carcinoma, in search of proper diagnostic and prognostic parameters. The enzyme levels showed a relation to the clinical stage of the tumor and were, on an average, higher in advanced stages of disease. Phosphohexose isomerase and lactate dehydrogenase-isoenzyme levels were of best diagnostic significance even at an early stage of the disease. The enzyme levels correlated well with the prognosis of the disease. In group three, the prognosis was very poor and the patients responded only slightly to the treatment, and only up to the third month; after that enzyme levels again increased.