Ascitic fluid samples from 19 patients with ovarian carcinoma, 3 with a benign ovarian tumor, and 5 with cirrhosis of the liver were examined for their content of coagulation factors and components of the fibrinolytic system. The concentration of trypsin inhibitors in the ascitic fluid was significantly higher in the presence of carcinoma. Large amounts of FDP were found in the ascitic fluid in all patients with malignant tumors, but not in the other two groups.
Determination of FDP may therefore make it possible to differentiate between malignant and nonmalignant ascitic fluid.
Cancer 35:1382-1387, 1975.
HE COAGULATIVE AND FIBRINOLYTIC PROPER-
T ties of malignant ovarian tumors are reflected in the occurrence of fibrin/fibrinogen degradation products (FDP) in the serum in as many as 72% of all such tumors." Malignant ovarian tumors are often associated with ascites; this fluid always contains FDP in high concentrations. "
There is a continuous exchange of fluid to and from the peritoneal cavity. Ascites may be regarded as the result of an imbalance between inflow and outflow, which often occurs in the presence of neoplasms. Knowledge of the coagulation factors and components of the fibrinolytic system in the ascitic fluid might elucidate the coagulative and fibrinolytic properties of the tumor.
This paper compares the coagulation factors and components of the flbrinolytic system in the ascitic fluid from patients with ovarian carcinomas to that of benign ovarian tumors, and to cirrhosis of the liver.
Methods
The clinical material consisted of 27 patients from whom samples of ascitic fluid had been obtained at the first laparotomy or laparocentesis From the