A New Test for the Presumptive Diagnosis of Neoplastic Disease. Further Investigations of Cholinesterase in Plasma, Whole Blood and Blood Cells on Cancer of the Lung, Extrapulmonary Tumors and Tuberculosis

Cholinesterase activity in plasma, in whole blood and blood cells was determined in 103 adult patients suffering from cancer and 42 adult patients suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis. These are classified as follows: 32 men with cancer of the lung and 22 men with extrapulmonary cancer; 53 women patients suffering from malignant tumors of various organs and 42 women suffering from tuberculosis. Twenty-three men and 20 women, all apparently in good health, were used as controls. Plasma cholinesterase activity was found to be noticeably decreased in cancer of the lung. The difference when compared with the controls was statistically highly significant (P