Radioimmunoassay for human pancreatic ribonuclease and measurement of serum immunoreactive pancreatic ribonuclease in patients with malignant tumors.

A method for radioimmunoassay of human pancreatic RNase was developed. The method is sensitive, reproducible, and specific. Almost no cross-reactivity exists between human pancreatic and liver RNases. A good correlation was observed between the serum concentration of pancreatic RNase as measured by radioimmunoassay and its enzymatic activity using polycytidylic acid as substrate. The concentration of serum pancreatic RNase correlates well with age, blood urea nitrogen, and albumin contents but does not correlate with serum amylase activity. Using the data of 52 patients with malignant tumors except pancreatic cancer, serum RNase level could be expressed by a multiple regression equation: Immunoreactive RNase content in pancreatic cancer was elevated in patients with complications from renal failure. Serum pancreatic RNase contents in patients with pancreatic cancer measured by radioimmunoassay agreed well with the values calculated using the equation derived from the data of patients with other malignant tumors.