New Diagnostic Adjunct for Uterine Cancer

Abstract

mailing methods. The point I would like especially to emphasize is that the gynecologist need not consider himself hamstrung or even greatly handicapped if, voluntarily or involuntarily, he does not make use of vaginal cell study. In the presence of a suspicious target lesion I would consider myself far more derelict in omitting biopsy than in omitting a vaginal smear. It is only in the screening of ostensibly normal women that vaginal smears have an advantage over biopsy, but these constitute only a small proportion, probably less than 1 per cent, of all those with cervical cancers. Even in this group

A New Enzyme Test for Gynaecological Cancer

“…Following reports of increased 8-glucuronidase activity in malignant tissue, Odell and Burt (1950) confirmed these findings in vaginal fluid of patients with carcinoma of the cervix and suggested the possibility of a diagnostic test. At the same time Fishman, Kasdar, and Homburger (1950) published the first of a series of articles on the 8-glucuronidase levels in the vaginal fluid of patients with benign conditions and with pre-invasive and invasive carcinoma.…”

Vaginal fluid enzyme patterns in benign and malignant lesions of the female genital tract

“…The original work of Fishman et al (1950) and Odell and Burt (1950) on the beta glucuronidase activity in vaginal fluid and the subsequent studies stimulated much interest in this field. Over the past years a number of enzymes have been studied.…”

“…The work of Odell and Burt (1950), Fishman, Kasdon, and Homburger (1950), and of Bonham and Gibbs (1962), coupled with the rapid development of automated enzymological assays, suggested thepossibilityof using vaginal fluid enzyme levels. Most of the reports until now have not shown that any one enzyme fulfilled the requirements for either a screening or diagnostic technique.…”

Vaginal Fluid 6-Phosphogluconate Dehydrogenase and Carcinoma of the Cervix

“…The easy availability of vaginal fluid prompted the measurement of this enzyme in the fluid of normal and cancerous women. Although the first workers in this field (Odell and Burt, 1950) demonstrated ditTerences in the enzyme activity in the two groups of women, later workers reported considerable overlap in the two sets of results.…”