Elevated serum alpha-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase in patients with ovarian carcinoma.

To differentiate between ovarian carcinoma and benign ovarian tumor, we compared alpha-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase (HBD), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and its isoenzyme activities in serum in 115 patients with ovarian carcinoma and benign ovarian tumor. Both serum HBD activity and total LDH activity in ovarian cancer patients were significantly (p less than 0.001) higher than that in patients with benign ovarian tumor. From analysis of serum LDH isoenzymes, a significant decrease in LDH-1, and significant increases in LDH-4 and LDH-5 in ovarian cancer patients were observed, when compared with those in patients with benign ovarian tumor. When the ovarian cancer mass could be removed surgically, a significant decrease in the HBD was observed, suggesting that the HBD might fairly reflect the tumor burden. Serum HBD activities in a half of ovarian cancer patients were higher than the mean +2 SD of those in benign control subjects.