The diagnostic value of alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) isoenzymes and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) measurement in the sera of gastric cancer patients.

Alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) are present in gastric cancer cells (GC). Moreover, the activity of total ADH and class IV isoenzymes is significantly higher in cancer tissue than in healthy mucosa. The activity of these enzymes in cancer cells is probably reflected in the sera and could thus be helpful for diagnostics of gastric cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate a potential role of ADH and ALDH as tumor markers for gastric cancer. We defined diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, predictive value for positive and negative results, and receiver-operating characteristics (ROC) curve for tested enzymes. Serum samples were taken from 168 patients with gastric cancer before treatment and from 168 control subjects. Total ADH activity and class III and IV isoenzymes were measured by photometric but ALDH activity and ADH I and II by the fluorometric method, with class-specific fluorogenic substrates. There was significant increase in the activity of ADH IV isoenzyme and ADH total in the sera of gastric cancer patients compared to the control. The diagnostic sensitivity for ADH IV was 73%, specificity 79%, positive and negative predictive values were 81 and 72% respectively. Area under ROC curve for ADH IV was 0.67. The results suggest a potential role for ADH IV as marker of gastric cancer.