Background/aims: Polyamines are essential for cell proliferation, differentiation, and transformation. Concentrations of polyamines are higher in some cancer tissue than in normal tissue. We examined erythrocyte-binding polyamines to evaluate the usefulness of polyamines as pathophysiological markers for hepatocellular carcinoma.
Methodology: We measured erythrocyte-binding polyamine levels in peripheral blood samples obtained from 51 normal adult controls, 136 patients with chronic viral hepatitis, 104 patients with viral hepatic cirrhosis, and 130 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.
Results: We defined the concentration of spermidine plus spermine as the erythrocyte polyamine level, and designated the cut-off level for normal as the mean erythrocyte polyamine level +/- 2 SD in control. The erythrocyte polyamine level was abnormally elevated (positive) in 56 (43%) of 130 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, 11 (8%) of 136 patients with chronic hepatitis, and 13 (13%) of 108 patients with cirrhosis. The level was higher in patients with a short tumor doubling time. In 27 patients with tumors, there was negative correlation between tumor doubling time and erythrocyte polyamine level (r = -0.46; P = 0.0147).
Conclusions: We conclude that erythrocyte polyamine may be a useful tumor growth marker in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.