Studies on Prostatic Cancer. III. The Effects of Fever, of Desoxycorticosterone and of Estrogen on Clinical Patients with Metastatic Carcinoma of the Prostate ,

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Abstract
Huggins, Scott, and Hodges studied the effects of fever, desoxycorticosterone and of estrogen on the acid and alkaline phosphtase levels of patients with metastatic carcinoma of the prostate. Serum phosphatases were detd. by the technique described by Huggins and Hodges, using the method of King and Armstrong; the units were expressed in terms of 100 cc. of serum. During spontaneous febrile infections the serum phosphatases in 2 patients with advanced cancer of the prostate decreased from 21 and 55 units, respectively, to 6.5 and 22.5 units. With subsidence of the fever and infection, the enzymes returned to their previous high values. In 4 of 12 men with advanced prostatic cancer, the acid phosphatase values of the serum did not decrease below 10 units following castration. Desoxycorticosterone acetate, dissolved in sesame oil and injected intramusc. in daily doses of 5-10 mg., to 2 of these patients, did not affect the phosphatase levels significantly. Estrogen, diethyl stilbestrol, given to 2 patients, whose acid phosphatase of the serum had not decreased below 10 units within 1 mo. after bilateral castration, resulted in a significant decrease of the acid phosphatase level in 1 patient, but caused no changes in the other. The significance of these observations for the treatment of patients with metastatic carcinoma of the prostate is discussed.