Fibrin degradation products during postoperative radiotherapy of ovarian carcinoma

Haemostasis activation markers in plasma of patients with benign and malignant gynaecological tumours: a pilot study

Coagulation and fibrinolysis activation have been investigated in fifty-eight women with recently detected gynaecological tumours. Twenty-six were benign and 32 malignant: of the last group nine patients had metastases. A control group consisted of 31 age-matched healthy women. Prothrombin fragment 1 + 2, thrombin-antithrombin III and D-dimer were measured. The median values of all analytes were significantly higher in the malignant tumour group, but not in the benign tumour group, as compared to the control group. The group of patients with a gynaecological tumour and metastases differed from the non-metastasized tumour group in prothrombin fragment 1 + 2, thrombin-antithrombin III and D-dimer. In the non-metastasized malignant tumour group solely prothrombin fragment 1 + 2 was significantly higher than in the benign tumour group. Coagulation and fibrinolysis predominating as can be derived from the elevated D-dimer/thrombin-antithrombin III and D-dimer/prothrombin fragment 1 + 2 ratios. The studied constituents do not enable a differentiation between the benign and malignant processes. However, as the differences of these values in both malignant tumour groups were significant, this might be used to trace the existence of metastases in gynaecological tumours. Investigation of these analytes in several specific types of gynaecological tumours might be clinically relevant.

Local haemostasis in brain tumours

The thromboplastic activity and the fibrinolytic activity were examined in 7 human meningiomas and 6 gliomas obtained at neurosurgery. Two different haemostatic patterns emerged, meningiomas having lower thromboplastic and higher fibrinolytic activity than that of gliomas. This difference might help to explain the better haemostatic capacity of gliomas during and after operation than that of meningiomas.

Plasminogen activators in ovarian tumours

Ovarian tumours obtained at laparotomy were histochemically examined for their local fibrinolytic activity, and simultaneous fibrin/fibrinogen degradation products (FDP) were determined in the serum. The fibrinolytic activity was confined mainly to vessels of both malignant and benign tumours. A very close correlation was demonstrated between the fibrinolytic activity and the vascularity of the sections. FDP were found in the serum in 13 of 14 patients with malignant tumours, but in none with benign tumours. The difference in occurrence of FDP in patients with malignant and benign tumours might be due to the invasive growth of the former with the entrance of thromboplastic substances, fibrinolytic activators or locally formed FDP into the bloodstream.