Variations in serum alkaline DNase activity: a new means to assess early
detection of relapse in patients treated for acute nonlymphoblastic
leukemia
A Economidou-Karaoglou, M Lans, H Taper, JL Michaux and M Roberfroid
Departement des Sciences Pharmaceutiques, Faculte de Medecine, Universite
de Louvain, Belgium.
Our previously published clinical results on various malignancies indicated
that the variations in serum alkaline DNase activity (SADA) could be a
sensitive test for therapeutic monitoring of human malignancies. In the
present study, the clinical efficacy of SADA detecting relapse in 32 acute
nonlymphoblastic leukemia (ANLL) patients in remission was tested. The
observation period ranged from 3 to 17 months. A simple and rapid
biochemical technique based on spectrophotometric measurements was used to
assay SADA. Of the 32 patients, 17 remained in remission and had less than
a 15% variation in SADA levels. They had no clinical symptoms of recurrence
at any time. In the remaining 15 patients, after a period of stability, a
progressive decrease in SADA, with variations of more than 15%, was
observed without any treatment. At that time, no abnormalities of clinical
parameters were detected in these patients. A recurrence of disease as
evidenced by routine examinations was found relatively late after the first
decrease in SADA in all 15 patients (range 1.5 to 5.5 months). These
results suggest that periodic measurements of SADA during the
posttherapeutic course can be used as a means to assess early detection of
an eventual recurrence.
Volume 74,
Issue 8,
pp. 2730-2732,
12/01/1989
Copyright © 1989 by The American Society of Hematology
