The presence of creatine kinase BB isoenzyme in patients with prostatic cancer.

Creatine kinase BB isoenzyme (CK-BB) was detected in abnormal amounts in serum samples from 11 of 46 patients with Stage D carcinoma of the prostate by electrophoresis. Thirteen of 46 Stage D patients had elevated acid phosphatase values and 10 of these 13 had elevated CK-BB. CK-BB elevations were less frequent in earlier stages of prostatic cancer; Stage C: 0 of 35, Stage B: 1 of 26, Stage A: 0 of 3 and none in a group of 35 with BPH, prostatitis and bladder cancer. Results of CK-BB by a specific radioimmunoassay correlated well with those obtained by electrophoresis in most cases. Several patients were followed over time and data on CK-BB is presented for this interval. The origin of the CK-BB is still unclear. The BB isoenzyme predominates in prostatic tissue and CK-BB is the fetal form of the enzyme in human muscle and myocardium. The increase in serum CK-BB may be related to increased release of the isoenzyme, either from the prostate itself or from a metastatic lesion, or may represent a release of the fetal form of the enzyme from dedifferentiated tumor tissue.