[Alkaline phosphatase isoenzymes and alpha-1-fetoprotein in hepatic neoplasms]

A study was made of possible relations between the placental alkaline phosphatase-isoenzyme (PAP), alpha 1-fetoprotein and liver neoplasia. Ninety-six with various liver diseases were examined, including 10 with primary and 16 with metastatic carcinoma. It was found that both PAP and AFP may be present in a certain percentage of subjects in this pathology. PAP (observed in 30% of cases of primary carcinoma and 43.6% of metastatic forms, as opposed to only 5.6% in cirrhotics) proved much more specific than AFP, which was present in both types of cancer (albeit at much lower concentrations) and also in acute, active chronic and persistent hepatitis, and in cirrhosis of the liver. The theories presented in the relevant literature are discussed in an attempt to explain the "reawakening" of both PAP and AFP, especially in liver neoplasias.